The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition
by LeonPianta
Summary: Twelve teams of random Mushroomers and even some FanFictioners compete in many challenges and travel the Mushroom Kingdom in effort to get the grand prize of 1,000,000 coins!
1. Team Introduction

Note: I technically don't own any of these guys except my character.

The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

Introduction

"Hello, my name is Tumble," Tumble said.

"And my name is McBallyHoo!" McBallyHoo said.

"We are your two hosts for the first ever Super Mario Super Amazing Race!" Tumble said excitedly.

"Before we start, though, we must introduce you to our twelve competing teams!" McBallyHoo said.

THE DOOT DOOT SISTERS- SISTERS (SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE)

Dot, the older Doot-Doot sister, is a very pleasant Pianta. She likes to walk along Delfino's shorelines, and secretly has a crush on the guitarist Pianta.

Deb, the younger Doot-Doot sister, is a lot like her older sister, but much more knowledgeable. She is currently attending DAC (Delfino Advanced College) and is majoring in calculus.

The two sisters are both very popular around Isle Delfino, with lovely voices and warm hearts. There is nothing more they like than to accomplish grand things together.

TIPPI AND THOREAU- PIXL PARTNERS (SUPER PAPER MARIO)

Tippi is the first partner Mario got in SPM. Although some know she lives her home life as Timpani with her lover, Count Blumeire, she uses her abilities of telling information to help others around town in her Pixl form.

Thoreau was trapped in a box for thousands of years before Mario saved him. When Thoreau isn't assisting the plumber, he likes to hang out and have throwing practice. He is very interested in the world of popular music (his favorite style is rock/pop).

Tippi and Thoreau both are specially powered to improve the lives of good people. They both enjoy hanging around with fellow Pixl friends, and really need a vacation.

FRANKIE AND FRANCESCA- MARRIED (PAPER MARIO: TTYD)

Francesca is the daughter of the real Don Pianta, who always wanted her to follow him in his line of business. As a Pianta, she opposes those who follow Ishnail. She is a very pretty woman, but can be a bit stubborn.

Frankie is the husband of Francesca and is the new leader of the Pianta Syndicate. He is normally wrapped around Francesca's little finger, but can get down to business.

The two love each other very much, and want the best for their relationship. They would really like to be able to buy a house.

BOO AND DRY BONES- BEST FRIENDS (VARIOUS)

Boo is a ghost that, although usually working on the bad side with Bowser, sometimes has a role on the side of justice. He likes to be invisible and mess around with others, but is sometimes pretty helpful.

Dry Bones is not afraid to block of something, although a relatively light jump to the head will collapse him. He does have a strong will, and the inability to communicate with anyone but Boo.

The 'scare pair' are very noble to each other and yet very mischievous. They really would like to get married to some nice ladies that they have met…

ROY AND WENDY- SIBLINGS (SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 4)

Roy is definitely the strongest and coolest of the Koopa Kids. He likes to be very rough with those he opposes, and doesn't care to do hard work that isn't for his own good.

Wendy is a teenager, and a relatively spoiled one at that. She is very demanding sometimes, yet it is still possible (yet extremely hard) to get her to be happy and thankful.

Roy and Wendy the two oldest kids of Bowser and are not afraid to get mean. They do want to get some more of that really cool stuff that they found.

DIMENTIO AND O' CHUNKS- COWORKERS (SUPER PAPER MARIO)

Dimentio is a dimension traveling, time warping minion of Count Bleck. He is always out to make the choice that causes the most grief for others, and definitely needs a little self control.

O' Chunks is the strongest of Count Bleck's minions, but not brain-wise. He is not the smartest, but always wants to be there for his coworkers. Especially Nastasia…

These two troublemakers will no doubt be a huge bother to the other teams. But they really want to please the Count. They are sure they will win.

YOSHI AND BIRDO- DATING (VARIOUS)

Yoshi is the cute dinosaur that we all know to be courageous and fruit loving. He also would do almost anything to protect his friends and family. He is strong willed and fun loving.

Birdo is the dino who started evil, but turned herself to good. She likes to be with those that she cares about. She is a fan of eggs and movies.

These two have known about their love but are still not able to be engaged. They would love to be married, but that isn't an option for them yet.

VIVIAN AND MARILYN- SISTERS (PAPER MARIO: TTYD)

Vivian is the Shadow Siren that went from evil to help her good friend Mario. She really does have a good heart but can be a little unable to defend herself or be able to function under others' anger. She loves her sisters and friends undeniably.

Marilyn can only be understood honestly by Vivian, Beldam, and the Shadow Queen. She is strong and has very good intentions. Beldam held her onto evil until the defeat of the Queen.

These two sisters love each other with much of their heart and really want to experience some good times with each other after the events in TTYD. They could use some power to rebuild themselves.

GOOMBARIO AND GOOMBARIA- SIBLINGS (PAPER MARIO)

Goombario is the brave and sort of strong goomba boy that joined Mario the first time he was in flatness. When he knows he wants something, he strives for it with all that he has.

Goombaria is Goombario's sweet young sister. She is very innocent and wouldn't think of doing something to hurt anybody. She can be a little stubborn sometimes.

The Goomba siblings love to support each other through all of the major accomplishments that they may do, and would love nothing more than to have the biggest experience of their lives.

DONPIANTA AND PRINCESSPEACHANDDAISY- FANFICTION BFFS

DonPianta is a teen guy who doesn't really care about what's cool or what's not. He has an immense knowledge of many things science and math, and loves nothing more than a laugh with his great friends.

PPAD, while sometimes helpful and kind, can get a bit irritated. She might be a good friend to most, but she is not afraid to show off or 'burn' others that are lesser than her.

These two have been friends for about a year now, and are so happy that they can do more than just chat. They are determined to get their names out there.

COLLETE11 AND GREENLEAFPRINCE- FANFICTION FRIENDS

Collete11 is the neutral, nice girl that is competing with us. She doesn't like to talk too much, but when she does, you know she has something important to say. She cares a lot about her friends.

Greenleafprince, well she can be a bit crazy sometimes. She does love her friends, but can be shy or uncomfortable around strangers. She hopes that this adventure can oust this problem.

These two casual friends may not be the closest pair you find, but in a situation like this, they are willing to go the extra mile for success.

LUIGI AND LUIGENIUS- FAMOUS/FANATIC

Luigi is the other famous plumber, who is pretty shy sometimes but wants to have fun, too. He does have a thing for Daisy and cares about others immensely. He tries not to be afraid of ghosts, but usually fails.

-We interrupt this story to tell that the author says IT'S TWELVE MIDNIGHT ON 12/31 HAPPY NEW YEAR AND WELCOME 2009!-

Luigenius, well he is not one of those sick teen guys. He is pretty haughty though, and loves rock music. He is a huge fan of Luigi, but not vegetables. Don't you dare tell him he's not so great.

While Luigi might have been a little uncomfortable with such a fan, once they began to know each other they agreed to work the best they could at this. They must have great pride in each other.

"We are here on January 1 to start the first episode of the Super Mario Super Amazing Race!" Tumble said. Everyone cheered.


	2. Leg 1: This is So Not What I Had in Mind

-Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

-The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

-Leg One: This is So Not What I Had in Mind

-I know that it's one year after I started. Suck it.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition!" Tumble said. The Amazing Race theme song plays.

"We are now in front of Princess Peach's castle, just outside of Toad Town!" McBallyHoo said. "The goal for the contestants is to find the clue boxes, complete all the challenges, and travel the Mushroom world!"

"AND not get eliminated at the end of each leg," Tumble said. "But, out of all twelve of the game's legs, three are non-elimination."

"For the first leg, contestants will find their clue box in Toad Town," McBallyHoo said.

"But where, you ask? They'll have to find it themselves!" Tumble said.

"All teams up to the starting line!" McBallyHoo said. Twenty-four contestants crept up to the line, all spread out, determined to win.

"All teams will start in thirty seconds, at 8:00 AM," Tumble said.

"On your marks…" McBallyHoo said. The teams all got into running positions. "Get set…" All made sure their packs were comfortably on their backs. The few seconds that remained felt like an awkward, silent eternity.

"GO!" McBallyHoo and Tumble blared at the same time. Everyone rushed off.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

"Look! Behind that signpost!" Francesca said, pointing to a nearby billboard.

"Shh! Ya don't want dem to hear ya!" Frankie said, as the two ran to the sign.

Francesca tore open the clue. "Make your way south to Toad Town Railway Station. Once there, fetch a train for the 498 mile trip to Shiver City," she said.

_Teams have to get on one of three available trains for Shiver City. Once there, they will find their next clue._

**Dimentio and O'Chunks, Currently in Second**

"Once there, look for your next clue box near the train station," Dimentio said.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Third**

"You have 100 coins to start the race," Roy said.

"Come on! Follow them!" Wendy said, signaling to Frankie and Francesca.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"We have 100 coins! This way!" Luigenius said.

"I know where it is, I live right near here!" Luigi said.

"Um… right. Sorry," Luigenius said.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

"The coins are all here! Let's go!" Tippi said.

"Geez, I didn't realize you were so fast!" Thoreau said.

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Sixth**

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said.

"Excellent! Come along, slow bones!" Boo said.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh**

"Hey hey! South, that's this way!" collete11 said.

"Alright!" GLP replied.

"We'd better hurry unless you want to lose," collete11 said.

"Nah, I'm alright with winning and what not," GLP said.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

"How the frick are we already so far behind?" DP said.

"Chillax; we'll catch up. How fast can you run?" PPAD said.

"I can't run too fast for long," DP said.

"No, I said how fast CAN you run?" PPAD replied.

"Well, my mile time was about 7:30."

"See, mine was 7:14. We'll be just fine," PPAD said as the two raced behind the teams ahead. "At least they're all behind us."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"We got all 100! Just follow them," Birdo said. Yoshi silently obeyed.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Tenth**

"Doot doot! We're all clear!" Deb said.

"We'd better hurry up before the Sirens and Goombas catch up! Doot doot!" Dot said. Looking back as she ran, she assured herself that the two groups wouldn't catch up.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Eleventh**

"Guh! Guh guh guh ugh uh!" Marilyn said.

"It's alright; we'll catch up somehow," Vivian replied.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Twelfth (Last)**

"I knew we should have waited a little while before racing! Look how far ahead they are!" Goombaria said.

"Don't be pessimistic yet, Baria! We're still as much in the game as anyone!" Goombario said.

"Yeah, you're right!" Goombaria said, and instantly perked back up. "Now come on, I don't want to be in last the whole day!" She raced ahead of Goombario.

**Frankie and Francesca / Dimentio and O'Chunks / Roy and Wendy**

"Hello, when's your next train to Shiver City?" Francesca said.

"Our next train… it leaves at 9:25," the guy at the ticket window said.

"We'd like two tickets!" Francesca said. "Thank you!"

"We'll go for the same as them," Wendy said, pushing ahead of Dimentio.

"Not a problem," the ticket merchant said.

"Same here!" O'Chunks roared. He grasped the tickets.

**Luigi and Luigenius / Tippi and Thoreau**

"We'd like two tickets for the next train to Shiver City!" Luigenius said, quickly.

"The next train leaves at 9:25," the merchant said, handing Luigenius two tickets.

"You rock!" Luigenius said. Luigi stared at him, oddly.

"Yeah, there are still some things about Luigenius that I haven't learned yet," Luigi said to the camera.

"Us too, please!" Tippi said. She got tickets as well.

**Boo and Dry Bones / Collete11 and Greenleafprince / DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy**

"Can we get whatever tickets they have?" collete11 said, in reference to the other teams.

"Yep, congrats, these are the last tickets," the merchant said.

"WHAT?" DP, PPAD, and Boo said, collectively.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said.

"I know!" Boo replied. Everyone else stared at him, oddly.

"What's the next train?" DP asked.

"It's at 9:40, but it's indirect, stopping shortly at Mt. Rugged," the merchant said.

"How far is the Mt. Rugged stop from the direct path?" PPAD said.

"There's only about a ten mile difference," the merchant said.

"We'll take it," PPAD said.

"We will, too," Boo said. Both teams got their tickets.

**Yoshi and Birdo / Dot and Deb**

"When's your earliest open train to Shiver City?" Yoshi said.

"It's a 9:40, but it's indirect, through Mt. Rugged," the merchant said.

"We'll take one!" Dot and Deb said.

"I don't know, it could cost us…" Yoshi said. "What's after that?"

"A 10:15, direct," the merchant said.

"Which one should we get?" Yoshi asked.

"We might as well go with the direct," Birdo said.

"Yeah, the 10:15, please," Yoshi said.

**Vivian and Marilyn / Goombario and Goombaria**

"Shiver City?" Vivian said.

"Direct at 10:15, but indirect at 9:40," the merchant said.

"We'll take the 9:40!" Vivian said.

"The direct must be faster," Goombaria said.

"The indirect stops for about ten minutes at Mt. Rugged," the merchant said.

"I guess we'll go direct," Goombario said.

"Alrighty then." The merchant handed both teams their tickets.

_On the 9:25 direct train are Frankie and Francesca, Dimentio and O'Chunks, Roy and Wendy, Luigi and Luigenius, Tippi and Thoreau, and collete11 and Greenleafprince._

_On the 9:40 indirect through Mt. Rugged are Boo and Dry Bones, DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Dot and Deb, and Vivian and Marilyn._

_On the 10:15 direct are Yoshi and Birdo and Goombario and Goombaria._

**The 9:25 Train, arriving at Shiver City at 7:33 PM**

"The clue says to look for the next clue near the station!" Tippi said.

"Then shouldn't it be somewhere near the station?" GLP said.

"Freakin' Tumble, leading us to make false inferences!" c11 said.

"Hey, I tink dat's it over dere!" Frankie said, pointing to a bush. Just visible through the overgrown plant was the image of the Amazing Race flag. The teams raced over to it.

"Detour!" Luigi said.

"Breaking Ice or Shaving Ice?" Francesca said.

_A detour is a choice between two tasks, one of which the team will have to do. In Breaking Ice, teams will go to Shiver Lake. They have to work together to break 50 blocks of ice, using only pickaxes. In Shaving Ice, teams will have to make their way to Shiver City Sweet Treats, where they must make 100 shaved ice treats. Once teams are finished with their tasks, the managers watching them will give them their next clue._

"What do you think we should do?" Tippi said.

"Dude, I'm a giant hand. Let's do Breaking Ice," Thoreau said.

"We should do Breaking Ice as well; I see that you have quite the strength," Dimentio said.

"Aye! Let's go!" O'Chunks said.

"I suck at physical exertion," Luigenius said.

"Agreed; Shaving Ice sounds good," Luigi said.

"Breaking Ice!" Roy and Wendy said, simultaneously.

"Heh heh heh! This will be fun," Wendy said.

"What do you think, cream puff?" Frankie said.

"Let's just do Shaving Ice, m'kay?" Francesca said.

"Whatever you wish," Frankie said.

"Yeah, let's do Breaking Ice," c11 said.

"Heck yes!" GLP said. The two cackled maniacally as they rushed towards Shiver Lake.

**Shiver Lake (Breaking Ice)**

"Alright, there are twelve piles of fifty blocks each," the mayor of Shiver City said, as he handed the each of the eight contestants a pickax. "Begin whenever you wish."

Of course, all teams instantly began pounding on the blocks of ice.

"This is so easy!" Thoreau said.

"Cool your head, emperor," Tippi said. "You've got to do 24 more after that one."

"Heh, this could not be any better!" Roy said as he destroyed one block in one blow.

"Geez, Roy, I hope I don't get in your way anytime ever," Wendy said.

"You are crazy strong," GLP said. As she worked on her second block, she watched collete11 smashing blocks in less than five seconds.

"Hey, I do what I can with what I got," c11 replied. She returned to her smash fest.

**Shiver City Sweet Treats (Shaving Ice)**

"This is so not what I had in mind," Francesca said. Before the four who'd chosen the challenge was a dark cooler filled with crushed ice, a counter with twenty-some bottles of liquid flavoring, and twelve hundred-pack boxes of cones.

"We just have to make them, right?" Luigenius said.

"Yeah, that's what it says," Luigi said.

"Dis is not gonna be fun. Maybe we should go…" Frankie said, before Francesca playfully shoved him.

"Chill out, honey bunch. We've got this," Francesca said.

In fact, she was totally correct. In a few minutes, both pairs were getting the hang of the ice treat making.

"What flavor's next?" asked Francesca, as Frankie was nearer a screen with orders.

"The next four you got are all cherry," Frankie said.

"Why have we been making so many cherry?" Luigenius said.

-In the store-

"I'd like twenty four more cherry!" said a fat Toad.

"Twenty four more cherry," the penguin at the register said, typing in the orders to send to the four shaved ice chefs. "This brings your total to forty nine, Mr. Toad."

**The 9:40 train, arriving at 8:14 PM**

"Breaking Ice or Shaving Ice?" Boo said.

"Eck!" Dry Bones said.

"Excellent choice," Boo said, and the two went off.

"I'm not even gonna try," Vivian said.

"Guh! Ugh ugh guh," Marilyn said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Vivian said as the two left as well.

"What the…?" PPAD said.

"I don't know. Let's just go break some ice," DP said.

"Yes, that sounds like a sport for the epic," PPAD said.

"Can we shave ice?" Deb said.

"Alright, sounds better to me anyway," Dot agreed.

**Shiver Lake (Breaking Ice)**

"YES! That's all 50!" Wendy said.

"Come on, weak one!" Roy said.

"Here's your next clue," the mayor said.

"Make your way across Shiver Path…" Roy said.

_Teams must now walk through Shiver Path, up Shiver Mountain, and all the way to the front of Crystal Palace, where they'll find their next clue._

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" Wendy said, rushing Roy to the path.

"That was so epic, you don't even know," GLP said.

"Hey, this is my forte," c11 said, receiving the clue. "Crystal Palace, let's go!"

"Look! Here comes the ghoul pals!" Tippi said. "And the Shadow Sirens!"

"Yeah, and Don and PPAD," Thoreau said. "Just keep pounding!"

"I suck at this," Tippi said, attempting to break her tenth block.

"Excellent work, O'Chunks. Let us go on…" Dimentio said, reading, "… to Crystal Palace!"

"Right, laddie!" O'Chunks said, running behind his partner.

**Shiver City Sweet Treats (Shaving Ice)**

"My god, this is so boring!" Luigenius said.

"Chill out, we've already done… 64," Luigi said. "That's only 36 more."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Luigenius," Francesca said.

"Don't worry, babe, we got to do 30 some more," Frankie said. The two kissed, and kept carving and pouring flavors.

"Hello?" said Dot.

"Hey, it's the Doot Doot Sisters!" Luigenius said. He quickly waved and continued work.

"Here's your booth," the manager of the shop said.

"Don't worry; this is a lot of fun," Francesca said, obviously sarcastically.

**The 10:15 train, arriving at 8:24 PM**

"Let's shave ice, Barry!" Goombaria said.

"Alright; there's the treat shop!" Goombario said, running to the building.

"We should break ice, it sounds like more fun!" Birdo said.

"Cool!" Yoshi said, and the two went to their stations.

**Shiver Lake (Breaking Ice)**

"Glad that's over," PPAD said. "And how the hell did you break thirty seven of them?" DP shrugged.

"Crystal Palace, this way!" he said, pointing in the opposite direction of their arrival.

"How are they already done?" Tippi said.

"They didn't quit like you!" Thoreau said.

"Chill out, I just took a break. See? I'm breaking ice!" Tippi said. She threw the pickax at the last block, and it shattered.

"That was pretty hardcore," Vivian said. She and Marilyn were working on their thirtieth block.

"Guh!" Marilyn said, crushing on instantaneously.

**Shiver City Sweet Treats (Shaving Ice)**

"And that's 100!" Francesca said, placing the cold, sweet, pineapple-flavored victual in the tray next to the cashier.

"Good job," the manager said, handing the duo their clue.

"We gotta get to dis Crystal Palace," Frankie said. They left the building.

"Come on! How many more?" Luigenius said.

"Only… that one," Luigi said, eyeing Luigenius's blueberry treat.

"Here, to Crystal Palace," Luigenius said. They, also, exited the establishment.

**Shiver Lake (Breaking Ice)**

"We are so totally done!" Vivian said. Marilyn grabbed the clue and 'guh'ed a few times. "To Crystal Palace!" Vivian said, pointing. They left.

"I had no idea you were so good at breaking ice," Birdo said, watching Yoshi pound the blocks with the pickax held in his tail. Yoshi only shrugged.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in First**

"Now dis is what I'm talkin' about! First place? Easy!" Roy said. The two reached a fork- one path went up stairs, another went down stairs.

"Which way is it?" Wendy said.

"Obviously, it's the harder one. Dis way!" Roy said, pointing up.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

"Do we follow them or go down?" GLP said.

"Let us go up," c11 said. They went up.

**Dimentio and O'Chunks, Currently in Third**

"This is very obviously a mind game. We must go down," Dimentio said.

"Whatever ye say, wee little lad," O'Chunks said. He ran down the stairs as Dimentio floated behind.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fourth**

"I think we should go up, as I remember this land from… somewhere," DP said.

"Alright, I trust you," PPAD said.

"Good, because I'm totally right," DP said.

"Fine, just go!" PPAD said. DP laughed as he ran up the stairs.

**Shiver City Sweet Treats (Shaving Ice)**

"Yay! We got 'em all!" Deb said.

"Yes! Now, we gotta go to Crystal Palace!" Dot said.

"Sounds kinda creepy," Deb said.

"Sounds kinda awesome to me!" Dot said.

"How many more?" Goombaria asked.

"Only 14," Goombario said.

"Good, 'cause I wanna go to Crystal Palace!" Goombaria said. Goombario laughed and smiled.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Seventh**

"Um… which way do we go?" Luigenius said.

"Most teams seemed to be going up," Thoreau said.

"Yeah, we should go up," Francesca said.

"Are you sure?" Luigi said.

"I don't know, but it seems right to me!" Francesca said. She led Frankie up the stairs.

"Yeah, let's just go up," Luigi said. Luigenius agreed.

"I think we should go down," Thoreau said.

"Okay," Tippi said.

**Shiver Lake (Breaking Ice)**

"Congrats, both of you are done!" the mayor said, handing clues to Boo and Yoshi.

"Crystal Palace!" Yoshi said.

"Hey! Wait up!" Boo said.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones replied.

**Shiver City Sweet Treats**

"Yay! That's the last one!" Goombaria said, receiving the clue.

"Crystal Palace! I remember Mario taking me there! Let's go!" Goombario said.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Eighth**

"Up or down?" Vivian asked.

"Guh!" Marilyn replied.

"Yeah, I think so," Vivian said. The two went up.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Ninth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Tenth**

"Look! The Sirens are going up!" Yoshi said.

"We should go up, too! Doot doot!" Dot said. The four followed the Sirens.

**Dimentio and O'Chunks, Currently in Third**

"Oh no…" O'Chunks said, stopping. He was staring at a sign with an Amazing Race flag before him.

"'Racers- turn around and go up the stairs'," Dimentio read. "Dang it!" he exclaimed.

"This means we're behind them other laddies," O'Chunks said.

"Shut up!" Dimentio said.

**Dry Bones and Boo, Currently in Eleventh**

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said.

"Yeah, down makes more sense to me, too," Boo said, floating quickly down the stairs.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Twelfth**

"Let's go up! It has to be up," Goombaria said.

"Okay, Baria," Goombario said.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Eleventh**

"It's Dimentio and O'Chunks!" Tippi said.

"There's a sign! It says we need to go up!" Dimentio said.

"Dang it, that mean's we're behind!" Thoreau said.

"Yeah, come on!" Tippi said, turning around.

**Dry Bones and Boo, Currently in Twelfth**

"No! There're two teams!" Boo said.

"You might as well go back and go up the stairs," Tippi said.

"Aye, ye'd best obey the wee feller," O'Chunks said.

"This is the wrong way," Thoreau said. Dry Bones and Boo followed.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in First**

"Dere it is!" Roy said. They got out the first clue. "Roadblock. Who's a good navigator?"

_A Roadblock is a challenge that one player must do on their own. Teams must select which player will do the task only by reading the question. In this Roadblock, players will have to find a secret room in the Crystal Palace, which contains their next clue. Each room will have an Amazing Race clue box, but only one will give them their Route Info. The others have hints that may or may not be helpful._

"I think I should do this one," Wendy said. She read the criteria. "Oh god… looking for a room?"

"Chill; it can't be dat hard," Roy said.

"You're right." With that, Wendy boldly entered the palace.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fourth**

"Geez, I was hopin'a be a little farther ahead," Roy said.

"Roadblock," GLP said.

"Who's a good navigator?" PPAD said.

"Me," c11 said.

"I'd like to take this one," DP said.

"Psh, fine with me," PPAD said. She read the description.

"I'll do it!" Francesca said.

"Good luck, cream puff!" Frankie said. Francesca entered the palace, shortly followed by collete11 and DonPianta.

**Wendy**

"Geez, this is pretty hard!" she said. She'd entered the third room into the palace, and opened the clue box in the middle. Inside was only one slip of paper, a note taped to the back.

"'Sometimes the answer is the opposite'," Wendy read. "What is that supposed to mean?" Shrugging, she walked on to the next room.

**Francesca**

**Collete11**

**DonPianta**

The three were currently in the second room of the palace. "Hey, it says, 'It's where you are; the other you'," c11 said.

"What is this, Professor Layton and the Dubious Palace?" DP said.

"What could 'other you' mean?" Francesca asked as they walked to the door opposite the one they'd entered.

"Oh my god, it's the mirror!" c11 said.

"Yeah! There's a way to get to the other side of the mirror in this place!" DP said.

"How do you know?" Francesca said.

"I don't know… but I know that! So it's this way!" DP said. The group ignored the third room box.

"Hey, where are you going so quickly?" Wendy said.

"We think we know where it is!" c11 said.

"Right, whatever," Wendy said.

"She can go to the wrong rooms if she wants," said DP, watching Wendy climb down into a lower level of rooms.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth**

"Hey," PPAD said to the two arriving teams.

"Roadblock. Who's a good navigator?" Vivian said. "That's so you, Marilyn." Marilyn agreed, and entered the palace.

"I don't have to urge to go into a dark, creepy castle," Luigi said.

"Chillax; I'll do it," Luigenius said. He entered.

**Francesca**

**Collete11**

**DonPianta**

"Look at this!" DP said. He walked through two of the four pillars in the room, and appeared on the other side of the mirror.

"Whoa!" c11 and Francesca said, simultaneously.

"Are you coming?" DP said, beginning to walk through the door on that side of the mirror.

**Marilyn**

**Luigenius**

"Guh!" Marilyn said.

"Yeah, sorry, but I have no idea what you're saying," Luigenius said. Marilyn pointed to the door.

"You know where we're going?" Luigenius said. Marilyn shrugged. "Okay," he said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh**

"Roadblock! Who's a better navigator… that's me!" Deb said.

"Alright, have fun!" Dot said.

"I can't believe there're already six other contestants here!" Luigi said.

"Not for long, Wendy's gonna be back any minute!" Roy said, confidently.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"Roadblock, for a navigator…" Yoshi said.

"I'll do it if you wish," Birdo said.

"Okay," Yoshi said.

"See ya soon!" Birdo said.

**Wendy**

"Urgh, where is that stupid clue?" she said. She was in the last room in the lower level, and the box had only said 'Go back up'.

"Whatever. There must be someone else here by now. Someone who knows what the heck they're doing."

**DonPianta**

**Francesca**

**Collete11**

The trio had made it to the mirror image of the first room in the palace.

"'Keep going', it says," DP said.

"What? But it said the box was in the castle!" Francesca said.

"This is a palace trick," DP said. He walked to the entryway, and opened the door. "Look! Another clue box," he said.

"It's our Route Info!" c11 said. "It says 'Not to be Read Until Return to Partner'."

"Alright, let's head back!" DP said.

**Marilyn**

**Luigenius**

"I think we should go this way!" Luigenius said. They were in the mirror crossover room, and he pointed to the other side of the mirror. "That has to be what it means. I mean, the other you? Across the walls? It must be here!"

Just as Luigenius said this, the door on the mirror image side opened.

"Hey!" c11 said.

"We found it; it's that way!" DonPianta said.

"Thanks!" Luigenius said.

"Guh!" Marilyn said as she and Luigenius went in the door.

**Wendy**

**Deb**

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Deb said.

"Someone who has any idea what they're doing," Wendy said. Deb shrugged, and started to go down the nearby stairs. "No! There's nothing down there," Wendy said.

"Then why don't we go this way?" Deb said, pointing to the door in the room across from the one she'd entered.

"There's nothing in there. Just a room with four pillars, against the mirror," Wendy said.

"Well, I'm gonna check it out," Deb said, leaving.

"Urgh!" Wendy said.

**Birdo**

Birdo passed by Wendy as well.

"Don't even bother going down," Wendy said.

"Come on, we need to go this way," Birdo said.

"Fine, whatever," Wendy said. She followed.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Ninth**

"Roadblock! Mario's taken me here before, so I know my way around!" Goombario said.

"That's okay, I really don't wanna go into the creepy palace anyway," Goombaria said.

"See ya, Baria," Goombario said.

**DonPianta**

**Francesca**

**Collete11**

"We found them!" Francesca said, opening the clue before her husband.

"Great, I bet Wendy's in dere screwin' around," Roy said.

"'Make your way back to Shiver City. Find the house of Pennington, the famous writer…" PPAD said.

_Teams must now go to Pennington's house, where he will give them further information on what to do._

"That's a bit… unclear, but… whatever," DP said. The three teams ran back down Shiver Mountain.

**Marilyn**

**Luigenius**

"Guh!" Marilyn said, opening the box in the last room. Luigenius read it.

"Keep going…" he said. "What does that mean?"

"Guh! Ugh guh guh!" Marilyn said, pointing to the exit.

"That's crazy. There's no way…" Luigenius said. By then, Marilyn had opened the door. She pointed at the clue box.

"This is weird. It's like a little alcove," Luigenius said. Both collected a clue, and read the notice.

"Come on!" Luigenius said, and the two went back the way they came.

**Deb**

"Hi!" Deb said.

"Just keep going," Luigenius said. He and Marilyn whisked right past her.

"Um, okay," Deb said. She opened the room's clue box, and read, 'In the palace?' "What the…" she said. Sighing, she kept walking. "I'll find it."

**Birdo**

**Wendy**

"See? Look, Luigenius and Marilyn are coming from the other side of the mirror. This is obviously not a dead end," Birdo said.

"Fine. Now move; I've gotta get me a clue!" Wendy said, running into said door.

"Follow her," Luigenius said.

"Thanks," said Birdo, doing so.

**Dimentio and O'Chunks, Currently in Tenth**

"This sucks; we passed three teams on the way up here!" Dimentio said to the six around him.

"Ey! It's a Roadblock! 'Who's a bedder navigator?'" O'Chunks said.

"Let me take this one, O'Chunks," Dimentio said. He opened the palace door, only to be pushed out of the way by Marilyn and Luigenius.

"Make your way to Shiver City…" Luigenius said.

"Pennington's house… do we know where it is?" Vivian said.

"I don't know, but let's go!" Luigi said.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Eleventh**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Twelfth**

"This severely stinks," Boo said. He'd been passed by five teams, and could see six others before him.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones whispered.

"Yep," Boo whispered back. "Pass these Pixls!"

Boo and Thoreau opened the clue boxes, and ripped open the clue. "Roadblock, who's a better navigator?" Boo said.

"Me!" Tippi said. "I'm good at finding subtle stuff." Thoreau agreed.

"Go, Dry Bones! This is your thing," Boo said. Dry Bones croaked back, and went into the palace.

**Deb**

**Wendy**

**Birdo**

"Here it is!" Deb said, opening the door to the alcove. She took a clue out of the box, and went back into Crystal Palace.

"Hey! Keep the door open!" Wendy said, entering at the speed of sound.

"Geez, Wendy, you're going to wear yourself out!" Deb said.

"That's what I keep telling her," Birdo said, coming in after.

"Enjoy," Deb said, abandoning the fun that is Wendy.

**Goombario**

"Here it is; the mirror switch!" Goombario said, crossing over. Deb opened the door before him, and held it for him.

"Thanks!" he said.

**Dimentio**

**Tippi**

**Dry Bones**

"Would any of you nice people like to assist?" Dimentio said.

"Um, what do you mean?" Tippi said.

"Should I go down or forward?" Dimentio said.

"Oh, I don't know. You might as well check down first," Tippi replied.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said. He and Dimentio went down.

Tippi went forward.

**Deb**

**Wendy**

**Birdo**

"Hey, Dot! Here it is!" Deb said, handing her sister the clue.

"We've got to go to Pennington's house," Dot said.

"Cool!" They left.

"Geez, where is… Wendy!" Roy said, as Wendy exited the palace. "What took ya?"

"Sorry, but the path was nearly impossible to see," Wendy said. "Here, 'make your way to Shiver City… Pennington's house'."

"Come on!" Roy said.

"I got it!" Yoshi heard Birdo say as the door opened. Birdo opened the clue

"Shiver City, Pennington's house," Yoshi said, before Birdo could speak.

"Okay."

**Goombario**

**Tippi**

Goombario passed Tippi on his way back from the clue. "Where're the others? Wait… who are the others?" he asked.

"Dimentio is in here, and so is Dry Bones. I tricked them into going down that stairwell, but they can't be far behind," Tippi said. "Go!"

Goombario couldn't argue with that logic.

**Dimentio**

**Dry Bones**

"That cheap trickster. I thought _I _was supposed to be the trickster," Dimentio said. As he and Dry Bones came up from out of the stairs, they saw Goombario leaving the room.

"Hey, young Goomba!" Dimentio yelled. Goombario froze. "Where'd you get that clue?"

Goombario looked back at him. "Um…" he said. Instead of finishing, he ran out.

"Why you incompetent…! Ugh!" Dimentio said. "Come along, Dry Bones."

"Eck-eck!"

**Tippi**

Tippi was returning from the clue, and she realized- Dimentio and Dry Bones would be coming!

"Um…" she said to herself. The door handle turned- the two were entering! Tippi flew up to the top of the high ceiling- Dimentio and Dry Bones surely wouldn't see her there!

"…and when we catch up to that no-good fool, we'll tell her what we think, won't we?" Dimentio asked.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones replied.

"…I have no idea what you said. But I will take that as a yes!" Dimentio said. The two crossed the mirror and exited the room.

"Phew!" Tippi said. She headed for the exit.

**Goombario**

**Tippi**

"I've got it!" Goombario said.

"Yay! Good job, big bro!" Goombaria said.

"We need to go back to Shiver City!" Goombario said. The two headed out.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

"Okay, we're finally back at Shiver City!" c11 said.

"Man, this is tiring," PPAD said.

"Are you alright?" DP said. PPAD nodded.

"Which one do you suppose is Pennington's house?" Francesca said.

"It's this way, I think," DP said. He led, and the other five followed.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

"I think I know where this guy's house is," Vivian said.

"How so?" Luigi asked.

"I read one of his books, Cold Murder. There was a picture of a house, and it looks a lot like one down that way," Vivian said.

"Can't argue with that," Luigenius said.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

"I think this is it. I think," DP said.

Frankie knocked on the door, and after about ten seconds, it was opened.

"Ah! Come on in," said the penguin.

"Are you Pennington?" GLP asked.

"Of course! Now, you must be with the Amazing Race, correct?" Pennington said.

"Yeah," PPAD said.

"What do you need us to do?" c11 asked.

"Nothing," Pennington said.

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" Francesca said. Pennington got up, and went into another room.

"I'll be right back," he said.

"What is dis guy doin'?" Frankie asked.

"I don't know," Francesca said.

"Here," said Pennington, re-opening the door. He handed DonPianta, collete11, and Frankie a clue.

"It says, 'Make your way to the next pit stop'!" DP said.

_Teams must now make their way to the pit stop for this leg of the race. But there's one catch- they aren't told for sure where it is._

"Where?" PPAD said, almost instantly.

"It says it's at the other side of the entrance pipe," c11 said.

"Where?" Francesca said.

"Dere must be a pipe dat leads here, from Toad Town or sometin'," Frankie said.

"Yeah, I think I might know where it is," DP said.

**Dimentio**

**Dry Bones**

"Alas, I've got the clue," Dimentio said as he and Dry Bones left the palace.

"Come on, we've gotta get to Shiver City!" Boo said.

"Eck-eck! Eck!" Dry Bones said. The two teams took off.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

"Here!" Vivian said, pointing at the house that matched the book cover.

"Come on!" Luigenius said, knocking on the door. A male penguin opened the door.

"Hello?" he said.

"Are you Pennington?" Luigi asked. The man pointed to his right.

"Next house over," he said. Luigi, Luigenius, and Marilyn looked at Vivian.

"Oops… sorry. You know, now that I think about it, it looks like that one more…" Vivian said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"So, before we get back to Shiver City, you wouldn't happen to have any idea as to the whereabouts of Pennington's house, would you?" Dot asked.

"Not in the slightest," Deb said. Dot laughed.

"Ah, me neither."

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Seventh**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"Where is dis Pennington's house anyway?" Roy asked.

"I've honestly got no freaking idea," Wendy said.

"Me neither," Yoshi said.

"Ditto," Birdo said.

"Well, the Doot Doot Sisters are up ahead. Maybe we'll just follow them, ay?" Roy said. The other three all seemed to agree.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First **

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

"There it is!" DP said, pointing to a pipe nearby.

"Come on, let's go!" c11 said. She jumped down, followed by PrincessPeachAndDaisy, then Francesca, then Frankie, then Greenleafprince.

DonPianta was about to go down the pipe, when he suddenly felt something. "What the…?" he asked. The wind had picked up.

PrincessPeachAndDaisy came back up the pipe. "COME ON!" she said, and pulled DonPianta down the pipe.

"OW! CHILL OUT!" DP said. PrincessPeachAndDaisy could only laugh.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

"Thank you!" said Vivian, taking the two clues from Pennington. She handed one to Luigenius.

"Make your way to the pit stop!" Luigenius said.

"It's on the other side of… the entrance pipe?" Vivian said.

"I think there's a pipe that leads here from Toad Town Tunnels," Luigi said. "I might be able to help you find it."

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

As the three teams came out of the pipe, they appeared in a cold, frozen, underground tunnel.

"THERE!" PPAD shouted, pointing emphatically at the pit stop. The three teams ran over. Collete11 and Greenleafprince got on first.

"Collete11, Greenleafprince, you guys are team number one!" Tumble said.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince: Leg One: Team One- 9:39 PM**

"YES!" c11 said. She and Greenleafprince shared one of those excited jumping up and down shouting moments.

"I knew we had it in us, but it was not a duo effort, per se," GLP said.

"Yeah, we thank DP for helping us, and thank God for letting us be first," c11 said.

"Frankie and Francesca, you're team number two," Tumble said.

**Frankie and Francesca: Leg One: Team Two- 9:39 PM**

"Yay! Thank you, Tumble! Thank you, McBallyHoo!" Francesca said.

"Dat's my little coconut princess!" Frankie said. DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy were slightly appalled by this pet name.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, you're team number three," McBallyHoo said.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy: Leg One: Team Three- 9:40 PM**

"And it's all because you know everything!" PPAD said.

"Yeah, totally, and it was a little bit of you smashing those blocks!" DP said, laughing. "Well, not really. You only smashed like fifteen."

"…Shut up."

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

"Here! I remember Mario taking me here one time for shaved ice!" Luigi said.

"Wow, that's ironic," Luigenius said.

"Here, you two go first," Luigi said.

"Thank you," Vivian said, as she went down, followed by Marilyn.

"Am I crazy?" Luigenius said.

"No. Wait… why?" Luigi said.

"I kind of just want to sit here and enjoy the view," Luigenius said.

"Well, normally, I wouldn't suggest it, but we've got plenty of time until the next team comes," Luigi said. He sat down next to Luigenius.

"Vivian and Marilyn," said McBallyHoo, on the other side of the pipe, "you're team number four."

**Vivian and Marilyn: Leg One: Team Four- 9:55 PM**

"Yes! You rock, Marilyn!" Vivian said.

"Guh! Guh… ugh uh?" Marilyn said.

"Yeah, they should've been here by now," Vivian said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"There! That must be Pennington's house," Deb said.

"That's what you said about the last three," Dot said.

"Well, exactly. This is the only one left," Deb said.

"Alright," Dot said. She knocked. "Hello, are you Pennington?"

"Yes, and this is for you. Wait- you're with the Race, correct?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dot said.

"Well then, here you go!" Pennington said, handing Dot the clue.

"The pit stop! It's on… the other side of the entrance pipe?" Dot said.

"There's got to be a pipe to here from some other world," Deb said.

"Yeah, let's go look," Dot said.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Seventh**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"Here we are, Shiver City," Wendy said.

"Yeah, I bet dis guy's house is over there!" Roy said, pointing to a nearby house.

"Alright, you guys start from this end; we'll start on the far end," Birdo said. She'd developed a plan.

"Alright," Wendy said. Yoshi and Birdo went to the far house.

"If they find it first, they'll tell us. If we find it first, hide the clue, and keep going. W can get ahead of them," Birdo said.

"That's not cool," Yoshi said.

"Calm down, this isn't the Amazingly Nice Race Help Your Opponents Win Race," Birdo said.

"Fine," Yoshi said.

**Goombario and Goombario, Currently in Ninth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Tenth**

"I know which house is Pennington's!" Goombario said.

"Boy, am I glad that you've been though all this, Barry," Goombaria said. Goombario smiled, leading the way.

"It's down here, the one to the right of the one Yoshi and Birdo are at," he said. The two teams ran toward the house.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"Uh oh, here comes Goombario. He knows which house is Pennington's!" Birdo said.

"So? Worst case scenario, we get tenth. And that's if Roy and Wendy catch on," Yoshi said.

"Well there is a big difference between seventh and tenth," Birdo said.

"It's better than twelfth, and either the worker guys or the scare pair are gonna get it," Yoshi said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"Look! There's Luigi and Luigenius!" Deb said.

"And there's a pipe right next to them!" Dot said.

"Hey! Why are you waiting?" Deb yelled.

"We're enjoying the view, but it's obviously time to go," Luigenius shouted back.

"Let them go first, they'll think we're nice," Luigi whispered. Luigenius nodded, unnoticeable to the Doot Doot Sisters.

"You can go in before us, we're not quite done," Luigenius said.

"Thank you! Doot doot!" Dot said. She and Deb hopped inside the pipe.

"There it is!" Deb said, pointing across the long tunnel-way to the pit stop, where McBallyHoo and Tumble were waiting.

"Dot and Deb, you're team number five!" Tumble said.

**Dot and Deb: Leg One: Team Five- 10:04 PM**

"Yay! We're a lot better off than I thought," Dot said.

"Sis, you think too viciously. We'll be just fine!" Deb said.

Luigi and Luigenius appeared through the pipe, and ran to the stop.

"Luigi and Luigenius, it took you long enough," McBallyHoo said.

"Yeah, Vivian and Marilyn said that you came with them," Tumble said.

"Yeah, that's true," Luigi said.

"We just weren't ready to leave Shiver City when they arrived. Now, we are," Luigenius said.

"You're team number six," Tumble said.

**Luigi and Luigenius: Leg One: Team Six- 10:05 PM**

"Well, it could be worse," Luigi said.

"I'm just glad we're still in this," Luigenius said.

**Goombario and Goombario, Currently in Seventh**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Eighth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"Thank you!" Goombaria said, accepting three clues. She gave one to Tippi, one to Yoshi, and opened one herself.

"Yes, it's the pit stop!" Tippi said.

"The other side of the entrance pipe… what does _that_ mean?" Goombaria asked.

"I remember! During the Breaking Ice, I could see a small cylinder in the distance," said Thoreau. "That must've been a pipe!" He went off.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Tenth**

"It's that house!" Yoshi said, pointing to Pennington's as he ran by the Koopas.

"What the… Yoshi!" Birdo said.

"Sorry, I felt bad!" Yoshi replied.

"Come on! We ain't got much time!" Roy said. He rushed to the door and knocked on it. "Pennington?" he asked.

"Racers, I'm sure?" Pennington said.

"Yeah," Wendy said.

"Here you go, and good luck!" Pennington said, handing them a clue.

"Pit stop! On the other side of…" Roy began. "Let's just follow them!"

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh**

**Dimentio and O'Chunks, Currently in Twelfth**

"Look! Those ignorant Koopas are running from that way, so it must be one of the houses past that one!" Dimentio said.

After about a minute of incorrect house searching, the teams found the house.

"Here you go," Pennington said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Boo said.

"Finally, the pit stop is nigh!" Dimentio said. "O'Chunks! Come!" The two began to run at über-fast speeds.

"Man! They're gonna beat us!" said Boo, and he and Dry Bones ran.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said.

"Yes! We just run at speeds that are über-faster!" Boo said. They did so, and soon surpassed Dimentio and O'Chunks. "YIPPEE!" Boo shouted.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"There's the pipe!" Thoreau said.

"We'd better hurry before Roy and Wendy catch us," Yoshi said.

"You go first," Thoreau said.

"Thanks!" Goombaria said, and she and her brother entered the pipe.

"Go ahead," Yoshi said. "You were first anyway." Tippi shrugged (or whatever a Pixl would do to symbolize shrugging) and entered, followed by Thoreau.

"You two!" Roy said.

"Roy, calm down, they still did what they said, remember?" Wendy said.

"Right. Fine."

Not waiting to hear the rest of the two of them, the dating dinosaurs entered the pipe.

"Goombario and Goombaria," said Tumble, at the pit stop, "you're team number seven,"

**Goombario and Goombaria: Leg One: Team Seven- 10:16 PM**

"Okay, we did pretty good," Goombario said.

"Yeah, pretty good for a team that started out in last!" Goombaria said, hugging her brother.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Tippi and Thoreau, you're team number eight," McBallyHoo said.

**Tippi and Thoreau: Leg One: Team Eight- 10:17 PM**

"Phew, that's a relief," Tippi said.

"Yeah, but it's gonna make next leg that much harder," Thoreau said.

"Right now, I don't care. I'm just glad we made it!" Tippi said.

"Yoshi and Birdo, you're team number nine," Tumble said.

**Yoshi and Birdo: Leg One: Team Nine- 10:17 PM**

"I am so looking forward to a nice sleep," Yoshi said.

"We've got twelve hours of relaxation ahead," Birdo said.

"Yeah, more like twelve hours of stressing about if we'll still be in after the next round," Yoshi said.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Birdo said. She hugged Yoshi, and could tell he slightly relaxed.

Another team came down the pipe, and ran to the pit stop.

"Roy and Wendy, you're team number ten," McBallyHoo said.

**Roy and Wendy: Leg One: Team Ten- 10:18 PM**

"Oh man, this next round is gonna be hard," Wendy said.

"Nothin's too hard for us," Roy said. "We're miles above the rest."

"Yeah, we'll catch up."

**? and ?, Currently in Eleventh**

Two team members came down the pipe, and ran up to the mat. Right as they stepped on, another, dejected team came down.

"Boo and Dry Bones, you're team eleven," Tumble said.

**Boo and Dry Bones: Leg One: Team Eleven- 10:21 PM**

"Oh thank God," Boo said.

"Eck! Eck! Eck!" Dry Bones said.

"Yeah, well we're better off than them!" Boo said, pointing at the last team.

"Dimentio and O'Chunks, you're the last team to arrive," McBallyHoo said.

**Dimentio and O'Chunks: Leg One: Team Twelve- 10:21 PM**

"I'm sorry to tell you you've been eliminated from the race," McBallyHoo finished.

"That sucks," Dimentio said.

"Aye, it be worse than the time Mimi destroyed our favorite model car," O'Chunks said.

"Aw, shut up," Dimentio said.

"Even though we didn't make it past leg one, I'm still glad we got to do this. I mean, seriously, it was pretty cool to explore that palace," Dimentio said.

"If I 'ad to do it again, I'd sure as a dog do it. And there'dn't be no one to do it with but me good old boy Dimentio. Definitely not Mimi," O'Chunks said.

"Thank you for watching the Amazing Race, we'll see you next time!" Tumble said.


	3. Leg 2: I Can't Argue With That!

-Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

-Note 2: If you want to check out PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigenius, or Greenleafprince, just look them up as they are. If you're looking for collete11, search for NaraTemari011. :)

-The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

-Leg Two: I Can't Argue with That!

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition!" Tumble said. The Amazing Race theme song plays.

"Last time on the race, our twelve teams raced around Shiver City, Crystal Palace, and all points in between to get to their first pit stop, which was in Toad Town Tunnels, just before the entrance pipe to the Shiver Region," McBallyHoo said.

"The first team to arrive was collete11 and Greenleafprince, friends from FanFiction. The last team was Dimentio and O'Chunks, arriving only 42 minutes after the first team. The teams are all rather close, and mostly, divided into packs. Will the current alliances remain? For how long will the teams be able to hang in the race?" said Tumble.

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, who arrived at 9:39 PM, will depart at 9:39 AM," said McBallyHoo. "Along with them at this time will be Frankie and Francesca."

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

Collete11 ripped open the first clue. "Head back to Shiver City, and drive to the nearby Shiver Region International Airport…"

_Teams must now return to Shiver City. There will be eleven marked cars for them, which they must drive 11 miles to reach Shiver Region International Airport. Once there, they'll have to arrange for a flight to Rogueport, 673 miles from the airport. Once at Rogueport, they'll find their next clue box near the departure of the airway._

"Yay! We get to fly to Rogueport!" Francesca said.

"We got dis, 'cause we live in Rogueport," Frankie said.

"Since we live there, we can easily help collete11, Greenleafprince, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy," Francesca said.

"Alright, it's back up the cold pipe!" GLP said.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, arriving at 9:40 PM, will depart at 9:40 AM," said Tumble.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

"Make your way to Shiver Airport, and fly to Rogueport," PPAD said.

"Sounds good; the Piantas and the other FanFiction guys just left!" DP said.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

"Where are those marked cars?" Francesca said.

"Over there!" DP said.

"For some reason, they seem to be the only freaking cars in this town," c11 said.

"This is true," GLP agreed.

Each team got into a car, and began to drive down the only road from Shiver City, which, as the signs read, led to Shiver International.

"Hopefully we can get a flight out of here pretty freakin' soon, or we've lost any lead whatsoever," DP said.

"The odds of getting a good flight are low, but we have high foot-speed, dude," PPAD said.

"I bet the other eight are all gonna catch up," GLP said.

"Ach, you're such a pessimist. And yes, I agree," c11 said.

"Maybe we'll get dere in time for a good flight to de homeland," said Frankie.

"Yeah, I doubt it though," Francesca replied.

**Shiver Region International Airport**

"Hi, we'd like two tickets for your next flight to Rogueport," Francesca said.

"Here you are. The plane is direct, and leaves at 10:15, so you'd better hurry up," the lady at the counter said.

"Tank you!" said Frankie.

"We'll take what they have," PPAD said.

"Yeah; we will, too," said GLP.

"Not a problem."

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

"Arriving at 9:55 PM, Vivian and Marilyn will depart at 9:55 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"We've got to go back to Shiver City and drive to the airport," Vivian said.

"Guh guh uh guh?" Marilyn asked.

"We're flying to Rogueport! This should be no trouble for us," Vivian said, optimistically.

**Shiver City**

"Here are the cars! We can catch up if we drive quickly," said Vivian. She entered the driver's seat, and Marilyn went behind. "It's eleven miles, so it should take about ten minutes," Vivian said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fifth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Sixth**

"Arriving at 10:04 PM, Dot and Deb will begin at 10:04 AM," said Tumble.

"Soon after them will be Luigi and Luigenius, leaving at 10:05 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"We've got to get on a flight to Rogueport!" said Dot.

"Yeah, but calm down; first we've got to get to the airport!" said Deb. The two took off up the pipe.

"Alright, good luck!" Tumble said, handing Luigi the clue.

"To Shiver City, then its airport, from where we will fly to Rogueport," said Luigi. "I've been to Rogueport many times, I can help out there!"

"Alright; we don't want to get far behind the sisters," Luigenius said.

**Shiver Region International Airport**

"When's the next flight to Rogueport?" asked Vivian.

"We've got a 10:15, but that leaves in, like, ten minutes," said the clerk.

"Not a problem; we'll take it!" said Vivian.

_On the 10:15 flight to Rogueport are friends collete11 and Greenleafprince, spouses Frankie and Francesca, friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, and sisters Vivian and Marilyn._

**Shiver Region International Airport**

"When's the next flight to Rogueport?" asked Deb.

"We have an 11:00, direct," said the clerk.

"We'd like two tickets," Deb replied.

"We would, too," said Luigenius. The clerk handed them the tickets.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Seventh**

"Goombario and Goombaria, arriving at 10:16 PM, will leave at 10:16 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Ugh, we have to go back to Shiver City," said Goombaria.

"No big deal, we'll be flying to Rogueport," said Goombario.

"I don't wanna get robbed!" said Goombaria.

"Please, do you forget how formidable I am? Nobody would try to steal from _us_," Goombario replied.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Eighth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"Arriving at 10:17 PM and departing at 10:17AM are both Tippi and Thoreau and Yoshi and Birdo," said Tumble.

"A plane to Rogueport!" said Birdo.

"Sounds cool to me," said Thoreau.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Tenth**

"Arriving at 10:18 PM and departing at 10:18 AM are Roy and Wendy," said McBallyHoo.

"Follow them; we get to see some real rogues!" Wendy said.

"Yeah, this'll sure be interestin'," said Roy.

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh (Last)**

"Departing at 10:21 is the last team, composed of Boo and Dry Bones," said Tumble.

"Shiver Airport, and then… Rogueport," said Boo.

"Eck-eck!" said Dry Bones, and he began running to the pipe.

"Geez, we'd better catch up," said Boo.

**Shiver Region International Airport**

"Excuse me, when's the next flight to Rogueport?" Goombaria asked.

"Are you sure small little Goombas like you want to go to Rogueport?" asked the clerk. Goombario and Goombaria gave her a '_seriously?' _look, and she sweat-dropped. "Um… the next plane leaves at 11:00," she finished.

"Dang, all the teams behind us will catch up," said Goombaria.

"Ah well, I guess we'll take one," said Goombario.

"We would like the tickets they have," said Tippi.

"Sure thing," said the clerk.

"Can we have some as well?" asked Birdo.

"I'm sorry, there's only one ticket left for the flight," said the clerk.

"Dang it!" said Wendy.

"What's the next flight outta here after dat?" asked Roy.

"On our airlines, we have an 11:45. Or, you could take an indirect flight through Poshley Heights from another airline, Mushroom International," said the clerk.

"When's that one go?" asked Wendy.

"It leaves at 11:10, and the diversion through Poshley will add about thirty minutes to your flight," said the clerk.

"We'll go find this Mushroom International," said Roy.

"I'll just go with this one; is that alright?" Yoshi asked. Birdo nodded.

"Which one should we pick, bud?" asked Boo.

"Eck! Eck-eck," said Dry Bones.

"Yeah, we'll follow Roy and Wendy."

_On the 11:00 flight are sisters Dot and Deb, friends Luigi and Luigenius, siblings Goombario and Goombaria, and partners Tippi and Thoreau._

_On the 11:10 flight through Poshley Heights are siblings Roy and Wendy and friends Boo and Dry Bones._

_On the 11:45 flight are dating dinos Yoshi and Birdo._

**The 10:15 plane, arriving in Rogueport at 1:34 PM**

"Alright, the clue box is somewhere near here," Francesca said.

"So it's got to be right… there?" asked c11, pointing to a small box with race flags.

"Yeah, I'd say so," said Francesca.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" PPAD said.

"Guh!" said Marilyn, and the four teams quickly arrived at the box.

"It says, 'Make your way down into Rogueport Sewers…" said Vivian

_Teams now have to make their way to, and through, the sewers of Rogueport, and find the entrance to the dreaded Pit of 100 Trials._

"Are you serious?" said Francesca.

"Don't worry, sugar biscuit, we got dis!" said Frankie.

The four teams headed south, towards the main center of Rogueport.

**Rogueport Sewers**

"Okay, how the hell do we get to the Pit of 100 Trials?" asked PPAD.

"Hey, I remember Mario taking me through a path, which was a pretty quick way to get there. Come on!" Vivian said, going left, into a large room with a few shops and Rogueport citizens.

After about 10 minutes, Vivian and co. entered a dark, slightly creepy room.

"This is it- and that pipe goes down to 100 Trials," said Vivian.

"Isn't this kind of dangerous?" asked Francesca.

"Yeah, we should NOT be doing this," said c11.

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" DP said. All were silent for a few seconds.

"We might as well go read that clue," PPAD said. Four clues were torn open.

"Go inside the pipe?" said Francesca, shocked.

_Teams now must go inside the Pit of 100 Trials, where they will have to fight their way to level 30. Each level, apart from 10, 20, and 30, will feature one enemy that the teams must fight. The enemies can't cause any rank-reducing injuries, but defeating them will take time. If any enemies are skipped, the team will be penalized by one hour. There may be an instance in which a mover will be seen. Movers can move teams down 2, 5, or 10 levels without fights or consequences, but using this will cost the team money._

"Okay, this is not an average occurrence, I assume?" asked GLP.

"Yeah, not for a race like this," said DP.

"Well, who wants to go first?" said c11.

"I guess we will," said Vivian. The other six allowed her and Marilyn to enter.

"We might as well go next, hun," said Francesca.

"Alright," said Frankie. The two went in as well.

"We'll go next," said DP.

"Huh?" asked PPAD.

"We'll go next," DP replied.

"No way, I do not want to go in there," said PPAD.

"Relax, the enemies can't hurt us!" DP said.

"Alright. Fine," said PPAD.

"That leaves us," said c11.

"What are we waiting for?" said GLP, entering.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

"OH MY GOD! IT'S A CREEPY BLUE GOOMBA!" said c11.

"!" said the Gloomba, who was obviously offended. It ran right towards her, but Greenleafprince intercepted. The Gloomba was not hard to defeat, so the two could move on to the next level.

"This is really easy, sis!" said Vivian, punching a Paragloomba.

"Guh! Guh guh guh!" Marilyn replied.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Vivian replied. She moved out of the way. Marilyn doubly charged up, and whammed a Spiky Gloomba with 21 attack power. It disappeared, spontaneously and explosively.

"That was intense," said DP. PrincessPeachAndDaisy nodded, then turned around and karate chopped another Gloomba.

"You know, after a while, this gets kind of boring," said GLP, ghetto stomping a Gloomba.

"Yeah, and not to mention tiring!" replied Francesca, rubbing her sore shoulders. "I've been punching these guys left and right!"

"Don't worry, babe, we only gotta get 30 of dese guys," Frankie replied, pounding down upon a Dark Koopa.

"Couldn't Tumble and McBallyHoo come up with something better for us to do than destroy a bunch of creepy mold Goombas?" asked PPAD.

"Apparently not," GLP replied.

**The 11:00 plane, arriving at 1:56 PM**

"Hey!" said Tippi. "There's the clue box!" She signaled in the direction of said clue box, and the eight on the flight ran over.

"There're still three teams yet to arrive," said Luigi.

"It's probably the dinos, the Koopas, and the scare pair," said Luigenius.

"Those are interesting generalizations," said Goombaria, quietly, to Goombario, who held back a laugh.

"Make your way down into Rogueport Sewers… we have to go to the Pit of 100 Trials!" said Thoreau, shocked.

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" Deb said.

"Well, if we get there and the four teams ahead of us aren't there, then it must be alright," replied Dot.

"I guess so," said Deb.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

"Geez, how many more of these guys do we need to smash to get the freaking clue?" c11 said.

"Well, we've done like twenty some, so maybe eight more… seven more?" said GLP, destroying a poor Paragloomba.

"Thank god we're almost done with this; this place gives me the creeps," PPAD said.

"Eh, you'll live!" DP replied, rudely.

"Shut it and KO some Gloomba butt," said PPAD.

"That's 'kick' some Gloomba butt, genius," DP said. Vivian and Greenleafprince chuckled.

"Come on, Marilyn, that was thirty," Vivian said, as the defeated Dark Koopa handed her a clue.

"Guh?" Marilyn asked.

"Yep, it says 'Make your way to a silver pipe…" Vivian began.

_Teams must now go east of the Pit of 100 Trials, to the pipe that leads to Boggly Woods. Once there, they'll have to make their way to the Great Tree. In front of the tree will be their next clue._

"Okay, we get to go to the Great Tree!" said Vivian. "We've been there before!" The duo exited the pit.

"That's thirty!" said PPAD, receiving the clue. "We've gotta find the Boggly Woods pipe."

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fifth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Sixth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"Wow, this does not look like fun," said Dot.

"Do we have to go in, Barry?" asked Goombaria.

"Yeah, if we want to have a chance of getting into the next leg," Goombario replied, solemnly.

"Well, if we all stick together, we can't get hurt," said Luigi.

Luigenius was reading the clue. "It even says that we won't get injured in any way that could cause problems," he said.

"Well then, let us do this!" Thoreau said.

"You first," said Tippi.

"Fine," Thoreau said, and entered.

"Come on, Debster," Dot replied, jumping in, confidently.

"Oh boy," Deb replied.

"Luigi, after you," said Luigenius, obviously not wanting to go first.

"Alright," Luigi said, entering before his teammate.

"That leaves us," said Goombario. After looking at the pipe for a few seconds, the Goombas entered.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Second**

"Hey! Wait up!" said PPAD, to the Sirens.

"Do you all even know where the pipe is?" DP asked.

"Yeah; I remember Mario taking us there once!" Vivian said.

"Guh, ugh guh guh," Marilyn said.

"Yeah, and the whole first-time-we-were-there thing, but that wasn't the best…" Vivian recalled being yelled at by Beldam.

"I'm glad to be running this race with Marilyn. I mean, Beldam is a lot nicer now than she used to be, but I still worry that something this extreme will drive her up the wall," said Vivian. "Oh, if you're watching this, Beldam, I love you! Wish us luck!"

"Guh, guh guh uh uh guh uh," Marilyn said.

"Yeah, totally," Vivian replied.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

"Ugh, they're already kind of far ahead of us!" Francesca said.

"It's alright; they seem to know where they're going, so let's just keep on trucking," said GLP.

"Don't worry; we'll catch up to 'em. Dey pro'ly just got ahead 'cause dey're concered about de race," Frankie said.

"This is pretty intensive," agreed c11.

"I still think they should have waited for us," said Francesca.

"Chillax; they just don't want to lose. I'm sure you can empathize with that," said GLP.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently is Sixth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"Oh. My. God. This is SO annoying!" said Dot.

"It'd be nice if we were able to finish in this eternity," said Deb.

"We just have to keep fighting these Gloombas until we KO 30," said Luigi.

"Yeah, but it would be so nice if they were a bit easier," said Goombaria.

"It's okay, Baria, I got this. Super-strong Headbonk, remember?" Goombario replied.

"Don't let your approach to strength all go to your head," Goombaria said.

"Ooch, you just got told," said Luigenius.

"I love racing with Goombaria. We can totally joke with each other and say things that would offend us if said by others. With us, we can laugh it off. She's so cute and not afraid to tell it like it is," said Goombario.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

"Wow, this place is really pretty," said c11.

"It must be so cool to live here," said GLP.

"I know, right?" said DP. "But I would totally get bored after a little while."

"You are so ADD!" PPAD said.

"What are you talking- ooh, shiny!" said DP, mockingly. The others laughed. "No, seriously, what's that?" He walked over to the sparkly, and saw something that made all eight simultaneously say…

"Oooooooh!"

"Look at that! Four coins," Vivian said.

"Not just any coins, but 25-coin coins!" DP said.

"Dese are like de grandmaster coins of all coins!" Frankie said.

"Well, each of us should get one!" PPAD said, splitting the coins between them.

"Come on, we have Great Trees to approach," said GLP, and with that, they were off.

**The 11:10 plane, arriving at 2:23 PM**

"Where's that dang clue box?" asked Roy.

"Ugh, I don't see it!" Wendy said.

"Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said, looking back at the airfield.

"You can't be serious!" said Boo. Arriving on the runway was the last flight.

**The 11:45 plane, arriving at 2:25 PM**

"Man, that was a freaking fast plane!" said Yoshi.

"You guys seriously got here in like two and a half hours?" Boo said.

"Yeah," Birdo replied.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Here's the clue box, and there are only three clues left!" said Wendy.

"There's only one thing I can say about that flight we took- direct. Literally. Like, it must have gone forty miles per hour too fast, since we got to Rogueport much faster than we should have," said Yoshi.

"I could hear someone ahead of us in the exit ask why we arrived so soon. The pilot said there was a wind current or something. Hey, works for me," said Birdo.

"Make your way… Pit of 100 Trials?" said Roy.

"That's insanity!" Boo replied.

"Well, come on, let's go!" said Yoshi, running quickly southward, trying to find an entrance to Rogueport Sewers.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"Finally!" said Tippi.

"I never knew it could take so long to annihilate thirty bad guys," said Thoreau.

"Hey! I'm right here," said the Gloomba who'd given Thoreau the clue.

"Yeah, we need one too," said Dot.

"Same!" Luigenius agreed. The Gloomba obliged.

"How many more, Bario?" asked Goombaria.

"I think two. Make that…" Goombario said, headbonking a Dark Koopa, "…one!"

"That's easy!" Goombaria said. She whipped her bow at a Paragloomba, knocking it to the ground.

"Whoa," Goombario said.

"Make your way to Boggly Woods," said Dot.

"Then find the Great Tree. Do we know where the Great Tree is?" asked Luigi.

"Not a clue, but I think I might know where a silver pipe is," said Tippi.

"Well, I can't argue with that!" Deb said.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

The four teams arrived in front of Great Tree.

"Whoa," said c11.

"I see why they call this the Great Tree," said PPAD.

"Yeah, because it's so… ginormous!" Vivian said, at lack of a better word.

"Guh!" Marilyn said.

"Yeah, I'm getting dog tired," Vivian said.

"No time to rest now, we've got clues!" DP said, pointing to the box with race flags.

"What's this one say?" Francesca asked.

"Detour- Running In or Running Out?" Frankie read.

_A detour is a choice between two tasks, one of which each team will have to do. In Running In, teams will have to report to the Puni Elder inside of the Great Tree. She will give them clues to find a certain room in the Great Tree, in which they'll find a hidden clue box. This choice requires some good attention to detail, and can be hard in a large tree with so many rooms. In Running Out, teams will talk to Petuni. She'll ask the teams to go to Flurrie's house, in search of some Mystic Eggs that she left there. Teams will have to find Flurrie's house, and will have to dodge simple enemies and solve a problem or two to reach the house. This choice is not overly mentally demanding, but getting to Flurrie's house and returning could take a long time._

"Which one should we do? I'm thinking Running In," said PPAD.

"Yeah, sounds good to me," said DP. The two entered the Great Tree.

"Running Out, Marilyn; we know these woods!" Vivian said.

"Guh!" said Marilyn, and they were off as well.

"Um, let's try Running Out," said GLP.

"Sounds coolio!" said c11.

"We should do Runnin' Out, too," said Frankie.

"Are you sure?" asked Francesca.

"Yeah, come on, it'll be just fine, my little sugar plum!" Frankie said.

"Okay."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Tenth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh**

"They cannot seriously want us to go down there and actually fight enemies… can they?" Birdo asked.

"Come on, let's just get this thing ove' with!" Roy said, jumping in and pulling Wendy.

"HEY!" Wendy yelled.

"Come on, we don't wanna let them get too far ahead," said Yoshi. He and Birdo entered, shortly followed by Boo and Dry Bones.

"This ain't so bad!" said Roy, punching a Spiky Gloomba in the face.

"OW!" said the Spiky Gloomba, being KO'ed.

"Take that!" yelled Wendy, slapping a Dark Koopa.

"They are really extreme about this," said Yoshi. He ate a Gloomba, and spit it back out into the wall.

"Come on, we can't let them leave here before us, man!" said Boo.

"Eck-eck!" said Dry Bones, breaking apart. He threw his bones at several enemies.

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"Well, I guess we're the only ones running in, eh?" said DP.

"Alright, you two young ones. What are your names?" asked the Puni Elder.

"I'm DonPianta."

"I'm PrincessPeachAndDaisy."

"Okay. DanPiano, PrincessPinchADairy, you need to find the room in the Great Tree that was once used for planning, right near the place of our peril, where the bad ones thought. You'll find your clue box there, alright?" the Puni Elder said.

"…" said DP and PPAD.

"Well, go on now! Shoo!" said the Puni Elder. DP and PPAD ran quickly out of the room.

"The place for planning. It must have been where the bad ones were planning," DP said.

"Near the place of peril… that could mean a dangerous place in the tree?" PPAD said.

"Well, we haven't really got a choice. Let's go all the way to the top, and work our way down until we find it," DP said.

"Heh; sounds like a plan."

**Boggly Woods (Running Out)**

"See, this isn't hard at all!" Vivian said, racing along with Marilyn, ahead of the other two teams.

"Are you sure this is the way to Flurrie's WHOOP!" yelled c11, jerking to the left just in time to avoid contact with an attacking Dark Puff. "Geez, these enemies are freakin' everywhere!"

"Chill out, collete, we have to deal with them too GEEZ LOUISE!" yelled GLP, as a Pale Piranha Plant came up from the ground right behind her.

"Heh-heh!" c11 said.

"Frankie, these enemies are driving me crazy!" Francesca said.

"Don't worry, Frannie, we've got dis. Besides, wouldn't it be hard ta find a certain room in da Great Tree?" Frankie said. Francesca stopped arguing.

"Hey, I can see Flurrie's house up there!" Vivian said.

"You know Flurrie well?" asked GLP.

"Yeah! We hung out a lot after Mario came," Vivian replied.

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"Hey, look at that!" said DP, pointing to the red and blue cages before him.

"What were these used for, ya think?" PPAD asked, looking at the open, empty cages.

"I don't know, but this might be what the Elder meant by peril," DP said.

"Yeah, look! Another room over there!" PPAD said, pointing to the left of the cages.

"Yeah, let's go!" The two were happy to see a small room with a desk and a few various papers and tools.

"This must be the planning room," PPAD said.

"Yeah, and this must be a clue box!" DP said, pointing to the box hidden under the table.

"Wow, that's… creative," PPAD replied. She reached under the table and pulled out a clue. "All it says is, 'Take this to the Puni Elder.'," PPAD read.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" DP said.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

The four teams had just arrived at the base of the Great Tree. "I'm surprised it didn't take us very long to get here," Goombaria said.

"Hey, like I said, I'm good at finding stuff that others consider hard to find," Tippi said.

"And we, all of us, we owe everything, everything we have, all of it, it's owed to the one, the only, Tippi," said Luigenius. The other six cracked up.

"Yes, he speaks the truth," Tippi said. "Feel free to bask in my glow."

"Let's just read these clues," said Deb. "Detour- Running In or Running Out?"

"Running In is good for us," said Tippi.

"I think we should do Running In, too," said Goombaria.

"How about Running Out?" said Luigi.

"Let's do Running Out," said Dot. The teams entered the tree, and talked to the respective Punis.

Tippi, Thoreau, Goombario, and Goombaria had to wait to talk to the Elder, as she was lecturing DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy about how long they had taken.

"…" said DP and PPAD.

"Um… thanks for the clue," said DP. He tore it open. "'Make your way back up to Rogueport'? Seriously?"

_Teams must now return to Rogueport, and look for the Trouble Center, where they'll find their next clue._

"Okey-dokey then, let's vamos!" said PPAD.

"Please, enough of the Midwestern/English/Spanish," said DP.

"NEVER! LONG LIVE MIDWEST SPANGLISH!" PPAD called out. She was met with a strange face from DonPianta.

**Flurrie's House (Running Out)**

"Thank you!" said c11.

"It was nice to see you, Flurrie!" Vivian said.

"Best of luck to you, and nice to talk, Vivian dearie!" said Flurrie, after handing teams one Mystic Egg each.

"It was so cool to talk to someone I actually knew on the race. I feel so much readier for what's coming up," said Vivian.

"Good bye!" said Francesca.

"We'd better rush back. Knowing DP and PPAD, they've probably already found that room they're looking for," said c11.

"Come on, we'll get dere quickly if we all run together!" Frankie said. [Note- the relative positions of the runners will really have no effect on their speed, but let's humor Frankie, okay?]

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"Find the planning room of the bad ones, next to the room of peril for our kind," said the Puni Elder.

"?" asked Goombario, Goombaria, Tippi, and Thoreau, simultaneously.

"No further clues! Now move along!" the Elder said.

"Geez, she seemed friendly," said Tippi.

"Ah, that's just her way of being 'endearing', I'm sure," said Goombario.

"Yes, if by 'endearing' you mean 'cold and angry and old and stuff'," replied Thoreau.

"Ach, you're so rude!" said Goombario.

**Boggly Woods (Running Out)**

Dot, Deb, Luigi, and Luigenius were slightly surprised to see Vivian, Marilyn, collete11, Greenleafprince, Frankie, and Francesca pass by them rather early on in the run to Flurrie's.

"Wow, I would have thought you were farther ahead of us!" said Dot, teasingly.

"We're not that slow!" laughed Vivian, but all teams kept running.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Ninth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Tenth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh**

All three teams had KO'ed 30 enemies at about the same time, so they all received clues one after another.

"We gotta find a pipe to lead us to Boggly Woods!" said Boo.

"Come on, we're already behind everyone else!" said Yoshi. He and Birdo (of course) ran ahead.

"Geez, they're not gonna be caught up to," said Wendy.

"Come on," whispered Roy. "We gotta beat them two to stay in this thing." Wendy nodded, unnoticeable to the scare pair.

Soon, they found the only silver pipe in Rogueport Sewers. They entered in the order they arrived, and by then, Yoshi and Birdo had quickly gotten ahead.

"There's no way they can catch us now!" said Birdo.

"I'm glad we're from genetically faster species then them!" Yoshi said.

**The Great Tree (Running In, Running Out)**

"Thank you! Here are your clues!" said Petuni, trading clues for eggs.

"Make your way back to Rogueport," said GLP.

"We gotta get to de Trouble Center," said Frankie.

"Yay! We know where that is!" said Francesca.

"Thanks, Petuni!" said c11, and the teams ran out of the Tree and towards Rogueport.

In another room…

"What could it mean, 'the room of peril'?" asked Tippi.

"I don't know, maybe there's a room with a high cliff or something?" Thoreau suggested.

"I've heard about this tree before," said Goombario. "We should go down this here pipe to see if there's a dangerous room down there!"

"Why?" asked Goombaria.

"I don't know, but for some reason, I think there's a room with high ledges," Goombario said.

It turns out, he was totally correct.

"Yikes! This is so creepy!" said Goombaria.

"Yeah, but I don't see any clue boxes," said Thoreau.

"Okay, how about this. You two, stay up here, and look around the nearby rooms here. Thoreau and I will float down and see if there's anything down there," Tippi said.

"Got it," said Goombario.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"Detour- Running In or Running Out?" asked Yoshi.

"I think Running Out will be much easier," said Birdo.

"We have to ask a Puni named Petuni what to do," said Yoshi.

"Alright, let's go!" said Birdo.

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Tenth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh**

"Detour, oh boy," said Boo, sarcastically.

"Runnin' In or Runnin' Out?" asked Roy.

"I think we should run out," said Wendy.

"Yeah, sounds good for us, too," said Boo.

"Eck!" replied Dry Bones.

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"Okay, there is like absolutely nothing down here," said Thoreau.

"Maybe we just skipped over it by accident," said Tippi.

"No, we checked over everything. It's not down here!" Thoreau replied.

"Well, then, let's just float back up there and tell them!" Tippi said.

The two Pixls floated back up, and went left, the direction they saw the Goombas enter.

"Hey, is there a box in here?" asked Tippi. Goombario frowned and shook his head.

"Did you check the room on the pipe side yet?" asked Thoreau.

"Not yet; let's go check it out!" Goombaria said. The four all walked out into the room with the high ledge, and Goombaria stopped.

"Are you coming?" asked Goombario.

"Um… Thoreau, can I have some help?" Goombaria asked.

"…" Thoreau said.

**Flurrie's House (Running Out)**

"Thank you!" said Deb, accepting an egg.

"Thank you as well!" said Luigenius.

"Good luck to you all!" said Flurrie. She watched as the two teams exited her house.

"Well, we should be able to get back faster than we did to get here," said Dot. Deb ignored her horrible grammar, and agreed.

Right when the two teams turned to go to the Great Tree, they saw Yoshi and Birdo.

"Whoa, they're sure catching up!" said Luigi.

"We were all quite surprised to see Yoshi and Birdo were so close behind us. I mean, they got on a flight that was like 45 minutes later than ours!" said Dot.

"To make matters worse, we could see the Koopas and Boo and Dry Bones a short ways behind them," said Deb.

"Hey," said Deb, passively, to Boo and such racers.

"It was nice to know we were so close; I knew we had a chance to stay in," said Boo.

Dot, Deb, Luigi, and Luigenius returned the eggs to Petuni. "Yay, thank you!" Petuni said. "Here you go!" She handed Dot and Luigi each a clue.

"Make your way to Rogueport's Trouble Center," said Dot.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

"Alright, here's the Trouble Center," said PPAD, opening the door.

"Here's the box!" DP said, seeing it right in the door. Removing a clue, he yawned. "You know, I'm actually a little bit tired."

"NO! Really?" said PPAD, overly sarcastically.

"Roadblock!" said DP. "Who can price it right?"

_A Roadblock is a task that only one player can perform. In this Roadblock, players will have to make their way up to the Lovely Howz of Badges, where they will be given five badges to price. If their assigned coin value is within five coins of the real value for all five badges, the player will receive their next clue. The player who hasn't chosen to do the Roadblock must wait in the adjacent Inn._

"Pricing? That is totally my thing. I mean, I like seriously go to the mall a lot," said PPAD.

"That's good, 'cause I like never go to the mall," said DP.

"You're missing out!" said PPAD.

"I'm sure I'm not," said DP.

"Well, we haven't any time to waste, so let us vamos, okey-dokey?" PPAD said.

"There's no end to…" DP began.

"…MIDWEST SPANGLISH!" PPAD finished. DP face-palmed.

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"Okay, none of these rooms down here have a box, right?" said Tippi, upset.

"Yeah," said Thoreau.

"So that logically leaves only a room upstairs?" said Tippi.

"I doubt there are stairs in here," said Goombario.

"It matters not. Come on!" said Tippi, leading the three back up the pipe.

**Flurrie's House (Running Out)**

"Thanks Flurrie but we're just barely ahead so we've got to go!" said Birdo.

"Good luck!" yelled Flurrie as the dinos raced out of her house. About ten seconds later, the door opened again.

"Hey, you're Flurrie, right?" asked Wendy.

"You're with the race, yes?" Flurrie replied. Wendy nodded. "Well then, I have this for you!" She handed Wendy a Mystic Egg.

"Thanks," said Wendy, and she left.

"We need one too!" said Boo. Flurrie obliged. "Cool, thanks." And with that, the four at the back of the pack ran off after Yoshi and Birdo.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

"Roadblock!" said Vivian.

"Who can price it right?" said Frankie.

"I know that Greenleafprince can price it right!" said c11.

"What? I… fine," said GLP.

"I'll take this one," said Francesca, smiling.

"Guh?" said Marilyn.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Vivian said. The six left the Trouble Center to find the Lovely Howz of Badges.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

"Okay, PPAD, here are your badges: Charge P, Attack FX R, Power Plus, FP Plus, and W Emblem," said Ms. Mowz, the worker at the badge shop.

"Okay, let's see… 200, 100, 250, 200, and 200?" guessed PPAD, randomly.

"Sorry, you missed the first, fourth, and fifth," said Ms. Mowz.

The door dinged, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy turned her head to see Greenleafprince, Francesca, and Marilyn enter.

"Guess one more time, or I'll ask them first," said Ms. Mowz.

"Okay… 150, 100, 250, 250, 250?" asked PPAD.

"I'm sorry, you missed the fifth one," Ms. Mowz said.

"Dang it!" PPAD replied.

"Greenleafprince- you have Power Rush, HP Plus, Defend Plus, Head Rattle, and Ice Smash," said Ms. Mowz. "You know what? How about this- whoever guesses the combo right first can have their clue first." All four seemed to agree.

"Um…" said Francesca, "…50, 250, 200, 100, and 100?"

"That's actually correct!" said Ms. Mowz. "Here's your clue!" Across the clue read, 'Do not open until both partners are present.'

"Thank you!" Francesca said, rushing out of the badge shop.

"Just you three," Ms. Mowz said.

"I hate this Roadblock," GLP whispered to herself.

**The Great Tree (Running In)**

"I think this might be it!" said Goombario. He saw a small room to the left of a room with two cages, which Tippi said might have been used to trap the Punis during a raid.

"And look at this! A clue box, under the table!" said Thoreau, reaching and receiving two clues. He handed one to Goombario.

"Yay! Finally!" said Goombaria.

"It just says to take this to the Puni Elder," said Goombario.

"Oh. Well, at least we found it!" Goombaria said. The two teams headed back to the tree's entry room.

"It took you long enough! Bah, whatever. Here are your clues," said Puni Elder, rudely.

"Make your way back to Rogueport," said Tippi.

"We've gotta get to the Trouble Center, wherever that is," said Goombario. And they were off.

**Boggly Woods (Running Out)**

"We're almost there! Don't worry; we're still beating 'em!" Yoshi said. Birdo was running a bit slower.

"I'm alright, and besides, we can hardly see them behind us anyway," said Birdo.

The two entered the tree, and handed Petuni their egg for the clue. "We've got to go back to Rogueport," said Yoshi. They exited just in time to see Roy and Wendy enter, closely followed by Boo and Dry Bones.

"Here are your clues! And thanks for the eggs!" said Petuni.

"Alright, we're headin' on back to Rogueport!" said Roy.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"Roadblock! Who can price it right?" asked Luigi.

"That's you Deb! You go!" said Dot. Deb nodded.

"Eh, you can do it if you wish," said Luigenius. Luigi, sighing, agreed.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

"Let's see… 200, 100, 150, 150, 100?" asked GLP.

"Yep, here's your clue!" Ms. Mowz said.

"Guh, ugh guh guh guh?" Marilyn asked.

"?" asked Ms. Mowz. Marilyn wrote it down (200, 100, 100, 50, 250). "I'm sorry, that's wrong."

"Okay, is mine 50, 200, 100, 150, 50?" asked PPAD. Ms. Mowz didn't answer- she just held out the clue. "Thank you!" PrincessPeachAndDaisy followed Greenleafprince out the door.

The door opened after them, and in walked Luigi and Deb.

"Alright, how does this work?" asked Deb.

"Simple. I show you five badges, with their names, and you try to give me the prices," said Ms. Mowz.

"Oh, this is simple!" said Deb. "67, 52, 33, 150, 233!"

"Um… you missed the third one," said Ms. Mowz.

"Oh…"

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

"Alright, Frankie, let's see where this one sends us!" Francesca said. She opened the clue, and read it. "'Make your way to the Thousand Year Door, the pit stop! Warning- the last team to check in may be eliminated!'"

"I don't tink we'll 'ave to worry about dat," said Frankie.

"Come along!" said Francesca, and the two ran out of the inn.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"Roadblock! Who can price it right?" said Tippi.

"I think I can do it!" said Goombaria.

"Okay, I'll go," said Tippi. And so they went.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

"Okay, you got the first four correct. Now, what's the price of that Shrink Stomp?" asked Ms. Mowz.

"Um… let's go with 80 coins," said Luigi.

"Close enough! Here you go!" said Ms. Mowz.

"Thank god for that!" said Luigi, rushing out.

"Now, come on, Deb, solve it," Ms. Mowz said.

"Erm… how about 75, 52, 150, 166, 250?" Deb said.

"There you go," Ms. Mowz replied.

"Guh, ugh, uh, guh, guh?" asked Marilyn.

"Yes! You got it!" Ms. Mowz said.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

"WHOA!" said Francesca. Before entering the Thousand Year Door room, she saw McBallyHoo.

"Frankie, Francesca. How are you?" he asked.

"Um, fine. Why are you out here?" asked Francesca.

"There's a fine to enter. Either pay 80 coins, or do 80 pushups. Whichever you prefer," McBallyHoo said.

"Aw man!" said Frankie.

"I can't do 80! Let's just pay! How much do we have?" Francesca asked.

Counting, Frankie separated the cash. "We've got 125, so that leaves us with 45," he said.

"Hmm… we might need more later on," Francesca said. Frankie handed McBallyHoo the 80 coins. He let them go through.

Inside the room, the two were amazed at the sight of the Thousand Year Door.

"Hey! There's the pit stop! Right on the pedestal," Francesca said. The two stepped on.

"Frankie and Francesca, you're the first team to arrive," said Tumble.

"YES!" they said, aloud.

"Unfortunately, I have some bad news. You guys found a 25 coin piece in Boggly Woods, correct?" Tumble said.

"Yeah, so?" Frankie said.

"Those were planted by us. Every team that picked one up will have to take a thirty minute penalty," Tumble said.

"WHAT?" Francesca said.

"When we heard dat de coins were traps, we were really ticked. I can't believe dat Tumble would do such a ting," Frankie said.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

Goombaria and Tippi were the next two to enter the badge shop.

"Alright, here are your five badges!" Ms. Mowz said. Goombaria easily solved hers, as she knew the prices of four and only had to think a short time about that darned Fire Drive (which was 100, BTW).

"I've honestly got no idea," said Tippi.

"Well, you haven't a better choice than to guess," said Ms. Mowz.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

**Roy and Wendy, Currently in Tenth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eleventh**

"Roadblock," said Yoshi.

"I'll take this one," said Birdo.

"Psh, fine by me," said Yoshi.

"I'll do it," said Wendy.

"Eck!" said Dry Bones.

"Fine, I'll go," Boo said, leaving.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

Both teams stopped to see McBallyHoo standing in the way of the Thousand Year Door room.

"I need 80 coins from each of you," said McBallyHoo.

"What?" said c11.

"That's insanity!" DP remarked. Still, they fished the 80 coins from their pockets.

"Move along," said McBallyHoo.

Collete11 and Greenleafprince stepped aboard the mat before the others. "You guys would be team number two," said Tumble.

"What?" said GLP.

"And you two," said Tumble, looking at DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, "would be team three. Unfortunately, those 25-coin pieces you picked up were traps. You both have 30 minute penalties."

"NO!" said c11.

"That's the pinnacle of insanity!" DP replied.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

After suffering through hearing Tippi guess outrageously incorrect prices for every badge, Ms. Mowz got to see Birdo, Wendy, and Boo enter.

"Come along, join the fun!" she said.

Birdo seemed to get the knack of it, and Boo did, as well. The problems simply frustrated Tippi and Wendy.

"URGH! I CAN'T DO THIS!" Wendy yelled, slamming her fist on the counter.

"Calm down; you don't want to break that table," Ms. Mowz said. Wendy growled.

"Okay, Birdo, you can go ahead." Birdo thanked her.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fifth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth**

The three teams were all shocked to see McBallyHoo standing in their way.

"Excuse me, can you please move?" asked Vivian.

"Only if you pay me 80 coins," McBallyHoo replied.

"80 coins?" asked Dot.

"You can also do 80 pushups if you wish," McBallyHoo said.

"Urgh," said Deb. She pulled 80 coins from her pocket.

"Go along," McBallyHoo allowed the Doot-Doot sisters to go on. Then Luigi and Luigenius, then Vivian and Marilyn.

"Dot and Deb, you would have been the fourth team to arrive," said Tumble.

"What do you mean, we would have?" said Dot.

"Due to a penalty to the other teams, you are now the first team!" Tumble said.

**Dot and Deb: Leg Two: Team One- 4:34 PM**

"Yeah! We did it, sis!" Dot said, hugging Deb.

"And I've got better news. As the winners of this leg of the race, you have won a three -day, two-night trip to Glitzville!" Tumble added.

"Awesome! Thank you, Tumble!" Deb said.

"Luigi and Luigenius, you're now team number two," said Tumble.

**Luigi and Luigenius: Leg Two: Team Two- 4:35 PM**

"Yes! We went up!" said Luigi.

"We'll definitely have first next leg," said Luigenius, confidently.

"Vivian and Marilyn, you would have been team number three," said Tumble.

"What's wrong?" asked Vivian.

"The 25-coin piece you picked up in Boggly Woods leads to an automatic thirty minute penalty," Tumble said. "It was all a trap."

"That's so unfair!" said Vivian.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"Sorry, but to pass by here, you have to pay 80 coins," said McBallyHoo.

"No way!" said Goombario.

"If you don't want to, you can do 80 pushups," said McBallyHoo.

"Birdo and I can do 80 pushups together, right?" Yoshi said. Birdo nodded.

"Then do them," said McBallyHoo. Yoshi and Birdo began to do pushups in excellent form.

"Wow," said Goombario, watching them.

"Barry! You have the money!" Goombaria said. Goombario snapped out of 'it', and pulled 80 coins from his pocket.

"Go along," said McBallyHoo.

Inside the room of the Thousand Year Door, Goombario and Goombaria could see the amazing craftsmanship of the door and the pedestal upon which the pit stop sat. They could also see eight angry contestants, waiting beside the mat.

"What's that?" asked Goombaria as she stepped on the mat.

"Goombario and Goombaria, you're team number three," said Tumble.

**Goombario and Goombaria: Leg Two: Team Three- 4:40 PM**

"Yay! That's much better than before!" said Goombaria.

"Hey! Our timer is up!" said Francesca. She and Frankie stepped on the mat.

"As you know, you two are team number four," said Tumble

**Frankie and Francesca: Leg Two: Team Four- 4:41 PM**

"I'd probably be happier if we didn't get dat dang penalty," said Frankie.

"It's okay; we did better than half!" Francesca said. She and Frankie hugged, regardless of any penalties.

**Lovely Howz of Badges**

"This gets really boring after a while," said Tippi.

"Not for me. I'm done!" bragged Boo.

"Aw, shut it, you fat…" Wendy started. "Eh, forget it." Boo received his clue and flew quickly out of the badge howz.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fifth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Sixth**

"Fifty four… fifty five…" said McBallyHoo, counting out Yoshi's and Birdo's alternating pushups.

"God…" said Birdo.

"It's… okay… stay… strong!" said Yoshi.

Boo and Dry Bones soon arrived. "Eighty coins or 80 pushups," said McBallyHoo. Boo quickly decided to cough up the coins, and McBallyHoo let them through.

Unfortunately, as soon as they entered, they saw two teams lining up to get on the mat.

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, you're team number five," said Tumble.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince: Leg Two: Team Five- 4:58 PM**

"Ah, well, we could have done a lot worse," said c11.

"I hope we don't fall for any tricks next leg," said GLP.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, you're team number six," said Tumble.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy: Leg Two: Team Six- 4:58 PM**

"Hey, we've still made it," said PPAD.

"Yeah, but that coin stuff was some crap," DP said.

"Boo and Dry Bones, you're team number seven," Tumble said.

**Boo and Dry Bones: Leg Two: Team Seven- 4:59 PM**

"Yes! That's four places better than last round, bud!" said Boo.

"Eck! Eck-eck!" Dry Bones said.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"Seventy six… seventy seven… seventy eight… seventy nine… come on, one more you two," said McBallyHoo.

"Come on! I can do it!" said Yoshi. He pushed down, and with all his remaining strength, pushed back up.

"Alright, I'm impressed. You two can go on!" McBallyHoo said.

Inside the room, one team was nearing the end of their penalty time.

"Come on, stupid clock!" said Vivian.

"Yoshi and Birdo, you're team number eight," said Tumble.

**Yoshi and Birdo: Leg Two: Team Eight- 5:05 PM**

"I guess that's alright for now," said Birdo.

"It's better than eleven," Yoshi said.

"Okay, our clock is out!" said Vivian.

"Marilyn and Vivian, you're team number nine," said Tumble.

**Vivian and Marilyn: Leg Two: Team Nine- 5:06 PM**

"Man, we dropped pretty far…" said Vivian.

"Guh, guh guh uh guh ugh," said Marilyn.

"Yeah, I guess," Vivian said.

**? and ?**

Two team members raced into the Thousand Year Door room, their pockets 80 coins emptier.

"I think we beat them!" said one of the team members.

"Yeah, they're gonna be gone," said the other.

"Tippi and Thoreau, you're team number ten," said Tumble.

**Tippi and Thoreau: Leg Two: Team Ten- 5:22 PM**

"Yes! Yes! Thank you!" said Thoreau.

"It's good to still be in, although we're still the back of the pack," Tippi said.

"I don't care, I just wanna sleep!" said Thoreau.

After about three minutes, the last team showed up.

"Oh, man," said Roy.

"I'm so sorry," Wendy said.

"Wendy, Roy, you're the last team to arrive," said Tumble.

**Roy and Wendy: Leg Two: Team Eleven- 5:26 PM**

"I'm sorry to tell you that you've been eliminated from the race," Tumble finished.

"Oh, that sucks," said Roy.

"Oh, Roy, it was all my fault!" Wendy said.

"It's alright. We had quite a bit of fun, didn't we?" Roy said, grabbing his sister's shoulder.

"I still feel really guilty about basically giving up and having a hissy fit during that Roadblock. It was so immature, and it cost us the race," Wendy said.

"At the end of the day, what matters is that you had a good time and that you can sleep at night. Runnin' this thing with Wendy was a better choice than runnin' with someone else. I almost signed up with Ludwig, and boy, I'm glad I chose Wendy instead. With Ludwig, I wouldna made it to leg two," said Roy. "Ludwig, I know you're watchin' this."

"Thank you for watching this leg of the Amazing Race, and please join us next time!" said McBallyHoo, entering the room of the Thousand Year Door.

_AN: Yeah, that was pretty messed up, right? Yeah, I plan to add a bunch of crazy stuff in this race that you probably wouldn't see in a normal race. But, expect it to get crazier later and later, as it's easy to plan a problem upon, say, five teams and it's harder for ten or eleven. Ah well! I still will mess with these fortunate teams!_


	4. Leg 3: That is Some Third Degree

-Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

-Note 2: If you want to check out PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigenius, or Greenleafprince, just look them up as they are. If you're looking for collete11, search for NaraTemari011.

-The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

-Leg Three: That is Some Third Degree

"Hello, and welcome to the Amazing Race!" said Tumble. The Amazing Race theme song played.

"Last time on the race, the eleven remaining teams raced around Rogueport and Boggly Woods, completing challenges to finally arrive at the pit stop, which is here, at the Thousand Year Door," said McBallyHoo.

"The first team to arrive was Frankie and Francesca, but they were held back due to a penalty. This means that the official first team was Dot and Deb," said Tumble.

"The eleventh and final team to arrive, Roy and Wendy, were eliminated," said McBallyHoo.

"The teams are all still very much split into groups," said Tumble. "The question is: will they stay that way?"

"Dot and Deb, arriving first at 4:34 PM, will depart at 4:34 AM," said McBallyHoo.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

"It says, 'Make your way back to Rogueport Airport…'" Deb began.

_Teams must first go to Rogueport Airport, where they'll have to board on a flight to Neon Heights, a bright metropolis 6,089 miles away. Once there, teams will take a taxi to the rocket launch pad, where they'll find their next clue._

"Doot doot! That sounds cool!" said Dot. The two ran to the exit of the Thousand Year Door room.

"Luigi and Luigenius are departing at 4:35 AM," said McBallyHoo.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

"Make your way… we get to go to Neon Heights!" said Luigenius.

"I visited there once. It was pretty… flashy," Luigi replied.

"Hey, we can still catch up to Dot and Deb," Luigenius said, running after the Piantas.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

After about three minutes, the quartet arrived at Rogueport Airport, to a pleasant surprise.

"You've GOT to be KIDDING me!" Dot said.

"The freaking airport doesn't open until 5:00 AM?" Deb said, distressed.

"That means, like, five of the other teams are gonna catch up to us!" said Luigenius.

"Not to mention the fact that there sure won't be any flights quickly out of here," Luigi said.

"I guess we'll have to rely on good, old fashioned legwork," Deb said.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

"Goombario and Goombaria will depart at 4:40 AM," said Tumble.

"Okay, we can open it," said Goombario. Yawning, Goombaria opened the clue.

"We have to get on a flight to Neon Heights," Goombaria said.

"That sounds pretty cool to me! Wait, you don't seem excited," Goombario said. Goombaria yawned, loudly. "Oh."

"Frankie and Francesca will depart at 4:41 AM," said McBallyHoo.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fourth**

"We gotta get on a flight ta da Neon Heights," said Frankie.

"Come on!" said Goombaria, waiting for the Piantas to come.

**Rogueport Airport**

"Aw, man," said Goombario.

"It doesn't open until five," said Luigenius.

"Great, so getting' far ahead won't really help us?" said Frankie.

"Not really, but we might beat out some of the back teams," said Deb.

"I hope they don't all catch up," said Dot.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fifth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Sixth**

"These two teams will depart at 4:58 AM," said Tumble.

"Awesome!" said DP. "We get to go to Neon Heights."

"Where's that?" GLP asked.

"Um, somewhere six thousand miles from here?" said c11.

"Come on, we don't wanna keep falling in the ranks," said DP. With that, the four left, just before the next team began.

"Boo and Dry Bones will leave at 4:59 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Eck-eck, eck eck eck-eck! Keck," said Dry Bones.

"We've been there before; remember Mario's party?" Boo said. Dry Bones chirped in agreement. "Come on, bud."

**Rogueport Airport**

"How much longer?" asked Goombaria.

"Like, all of ten seconds," said Luigenius, watching the clock on the wall inside. A Goomba walked to the door, and opened it. The four teams rushed inside.

"Hello, can you please tell us the next flight to Neon Heights?" asked Deb to a clerk.

"Let's see," he said. "Our next flight is at 5:45. It arrives at about nine o'clock tonight."

"Okay, we'll take that one," said Dot.

"We will, too," said Goombario.

"Can we have two tickets as well?" asked Francesca.

"Let's go with that," said Luigenius. The clerk printed eight tickets, and dolled them out, accordingly.

The four teams went to sit on the bench, find something to eat, or do another similar activity. Looking to the entrance, Goombario spotted the next two teams.

"Hi," said c11 to the clerk. "When's the next flight to Neon Heights?"

Eventually, collete11 and Greenleafprince went with the 5:45 flight, and DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy agreed soon after.

"GEEZ-US!" yelled c11. She'd turned around to see Boo and Dry Bones standing directly behind her.

"Sorry!" said Boo.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Ninth**

"Yoshi and Birdo are departing at 5:05 AM," said Tumble.

"We've gotta get on a plane to Neon Heights," said Yoshi.

"I just hope that the airport isn't open yet so we can catch up," said Birdo.

"Please, we're only like half an hour behind. There's no way they got a flight that leaves early enough to evade us," said Yoshi.

"Vivian and Marilyn will depart at 5:06 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Okay, Marilyn, we've gotta kick it into high gear. Let's just get to the airport, m'kay?" said Vivian.

"Guh!" Marilyn said. She followed the dinos out of the Thousand Year Door room.

**Rogueport Airport**

"You have got to be kidding me! What do you mean, you're out of seats?" said Boo, angrily, to the clerk.

"Sorry, but there's only one open seat on the flight," the clerk replied.

"Fine! Are there any other airlines in this freakin' airport?" asked Boo.

"Yeah, you can try Shroom Air, all the way across the airport," said the clerk.

"When is their next flight leaving?" Boo asked.

"6:15," said the clerk.

"Um… when's YOUR next flight leaving?" Boo tried.

"7:30," the clerk replied. Frowning, Boo and Dry Bones left to find the Shroom Air stand.

A few minutes later…

"Hi, when's the next flight to Neon Heights?" asked Birdo.

"We don't have one until 7:30, but you can try a Shroom Air flight. It leaves at 6:15," the clerk said.

"We'll go there. Thanks!" Yoshi said.

"That's the earliest one that's got open seats?" asked Vivian.

"I'm almost entirely sure. Here, I'll check," said the clerk, typing on his keyboard. "Whoa… Royal Airlines has a flight that leaves at 6:00. You might wanna tell your friends that."

Vivian looked in the direction the dinos had gone, but they were nowhere to be seen. "Oh, man, they're gonna get behind. Well, thank you," she said. "Let's go find this Royal Airlines flight."

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Tenth (Last)**

"Tippi and Thoreau are the last team to leave, at 5:22 AM," said Tumble.

"We've gotta get to the airport and get a flight to Neon Heights," said Thoreau.

"Well, we'd better be quick; they could get an early plane!" Tippi said.

**Rogueport Airport**

"Hello, when's the next flight to Neon Heights?" asked Tippi.

"Well, if you really want to stick to good old Goomba Airlines, you'll have to wait until 7:30. There's a Royal Airlines flight at 6:00, and a Shroom Air flight at 6:15. It's your call," said the clerk.

"Thank you, but we should probably go with the Royal Airlines flight," said Tippi.

_On the 5:45 Goomba Airlines flight to Neon Heights are sisters Dot and Deb, siblings Goombario and Goombaria, married couple Frankie and Francesca, friends Luigi and Luigenius, friends collete11 and Greenleafprince, and friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy._

_On the 6:00 Royal Airlines flight are sisters Vivian and Marilyn and friends Tippi and Thoreau._

_On the 6:15 Shroom Air flight are friends Boo and Dry Bones and dating couple Yoshi and Birdo._

**The 5:45 flight, arriving in Neon Heights at 9:14 PM**

"Geez, that was one of the longest flights I've ever been on," said c11.

"Come on, we've gotta get taxis to the rocket launch pad," said PPAD. The six teams exited the airport, and tried to flag taxis.

"Hey! One's stopping for us!" said Deb.

"Hey, we can fit four people in the back of this taxi," said Dot.

"Not a chance," said PPAD.

"No way," said c11.

"Not gonna happen," Luigenius agreed.

"Let's just wait," said Francesca.

"Suit yourselves," said Dot. She began to close the door, but Goombaria stopped her.

"Is it okay if we ride with you? We can split pay and stuff," Goombaria said.

"Sure," said Deb.

**Dot and Deb/Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in First**

"Where you all goin'?" asked the taxi driver, in a rather fake, Italian accent.

"The rocket launch pad, please," said Deb.

**Neon Heights Airport**

"Hey, here comes another taxi!" said DP.

"I don't think any of you wanna squish in with us?" asked PPAD. The other six shook their heads.

"Good luck!" said DP.

"Hey, here comes two more," said Luigi.

"Who's gonna get them?" said Francesca.

"You two teams can go," said Luigi.

"Why them?" said Luigenius, quietly.

"Because both of those teams have a female member," whispered Luigi.

"What?" Luigenius replied.

"It's called being respectful," said Luigi.

"Yeah, go ahead!" said Luigenius, loud enough for the other teams to hear.

"Thanks!" said c11. She and Greenleafprince sat in the first one; Frankie and Francesca entered the second one.

"I sure hope another taxi comes along soon," said Luigenius.

"Not to worry, I think I see one right there!" said Luigi.

"Geez, I didn't know there were so many taxis in the Mushroom Kingdom," Luigenius said.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"What is this?" said Deb. Instead of a blue Route Info card, a red Roadblock, an orange Detour, or a yellow Yield, they held a purple card in their hand.

"It says, 'Fork'," said Goombario.

"What's a 'Fork'?" asked Goombaria.

"Let's find out!" said Goombario.

_A Fork is a combination of two tasks. Teams must decide which member will do one task, leaving the other member to do the second task. In this Fork, one team member will go to the baseball field, where they must hit three balls out of the field. This task is easier for stronger team members. The other team member will go down to the shooting gallery, where they'll have five shots at a target. They must shoot a forty or better on a bulls-eye style target with center ten. After completing their tasks, team members will each receive a clue with half of the information. They will return to the rocket to read for their next destination._

"Who do you think should do what?" said Dot.

"Um, I think you should shoot and I'll hit baseballs," Deb said. Dot seemed to agree.

"I'll do the shooting," said Goombario.

"Okay," said Goombaria.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Sixth**

"Fork!" said DP.

"Fork?" asked Francesca.

"What's dat supposed to be?" Frankie replied.

"I don't know," said c11.

"It looks like it's like a combination of two Roadblocks," said GLP.

"How so?" asked Luigenius.

"Each person has to do one of the tasks. One person has to go shooting, and one person has to hit baseballs," said Luigi.

"I'll take da shootin'," said Frankie.

"I'd rather do the baseball," said PPAD.

"I think you'll be a better shooter," said Luigi.

"I guess I'll shoot!" said c11. This was a major surprise. Well, not really. The teams split up.

**The 6:00 flight, arriving at 9:44 PM**

"We've gotta get a taxi to the… launch pad," said Vivian, skimming her clue.

"Do you think all four of us can fit in one taxi?" said Tippi. Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn looked at her with a face that read _I don't think so. _"Alright, fine."

The first taxi to arrive was occupied by Vivian and Marilyn, and another came about a minute later for Tippi and Thoreau.

**Deb, Goombaria, Francesca, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigi, and Greenleafprince (Baseball)**

"Alright, you alls know what youse need to be doin'?" said the Goomba at the baseball field said. The six nodded. "Remember, youse only got to hit t'ree outta the park, alright? Alright, go ahead!"

The six were quickly noticing the fact that this task was not easy. The hardest hit after a few minutes had been Luigi's, which went all of ¾ of the way to the stands.

"This is going to be a LONG day," said PPAD.

"Well, I guess we just keep trying," said Deb.

**Dot, Goombario, Frankie, DonPianta, Luigenius, and Collete11 (Shooting)**

"Are you all at yer stations?" the Koopa waiting at the shooting stand said.

"Yep!" said all six, simultaneously.

"That was rather awesome," said Goombario to himself.

"Eyes on!" said the Koopa, in reference to glasses. "Ears in!" he said, referring to earplugs. "All systems ready?"

"Go!" Dot said.

"Good!" said Goombario.

"Yeah!" said DP.

"Go on!" said Frankie.

"Ready!" said Luigenius.

"Wait!" said c11. She fiddled with her earplugs. "Stupid frickin' annoying chunks of rubber!" After a short while, she got them in. "Alright!"

"Ready… aim… go!" the Koopa said.

The shooters soon discovered that they had picked the easy task- the handguns they held were rather light, didn't kick much, and even had a bright red laser pointer.

"This is so cool!" said DP.

"I love this race," said c11.

"Dis is da best!" said Frankie.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

"Alright, we've got a… Fork?" said Vivian. Looking at the two cards in her hand, she curiously opened the purple one.

"Guh?" said Marilyn.

"We've gotta do shooting and baseball," Vivian said. "I bet you'd do good at the baseball!"

"Guh!" said Marilyn, looking over the clue. The two went on their way in time for another team to arrive.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Eighth**

"Fork," said Tippi, overlooking the second card.

"I think I'd do the baseball," said Thoreau.

"Since when are you stronger than me?" said Tippi.

"Since I'm a hand who throws large, heavy items with ease," Thoreau replied. Tippi ignored him and made her way to the shooting gallery.

**Dot, Goombario, Frankie, DonPianta, Luigenius, and Collete11 (Shooting)**

After a short session, the Koopa reviewed the scores.

"Alright…" he said, reading the name on the paper, "Dot. You got a forty six."

"Yes!" Dot said.

"Goombario, Frankie, DonPianta, you're all good," the Koopa continued. "Luigenius… you got a thirty nine."

"Are you serious?" said Luigenius.

"Coilete11?" the Koopa said.

"It's COLLete11. C-O-_L_-L!" c11 said, pissed.

"You're trying again as well," the Koopa finished. He handed clues to the successful shooters.

**Deb, Goombaria, Francesca, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigi, and Greenleafprince (Baseball)**

It had been about fifteen minutes, and the contestants weren't exactly closer. Most of them had one, and very recently had they done so. Luigi had the least trouble, closely followed by Francesca.

"I wouldn't think that Francesca would be that good at baseball, but I guess I just have to watch her. She and Frankie are strong opponents," said Deb.

"I think it would be a good idea to become allies with Francesca's team. She really rocks at some of this stuff!" said Goombaria.

They were further put down by the fact that then, from a distance, Marilyn and Thoreau arrived.

"Seriously?" said PPAD.

"Seriously?" recited Deb, equally irritated.

"This is fun," said GLP, sarcastically.

**Dot, Goombario, Frankie, and DonPianta (Launch Pad)**

"I didn't think that the baseball would take so long," said Goombario.

"Well, I guess it's harder than we thought," Dot said.

"Da others should be here pretty soon; I guess we just wait," said Frankie.

"Hopefully they won't be too long," said DP.

**Luigenius and Collete11 (Shooting)**

"Geez-us, this is tense," said c11.

"Look! It's Vivian and Tippi," Luigenius noted.

"We might as well hurry up and get on this second round before they get here!" c11 said.

After a short passage of time, Vivian and Tippi had arrived, and collete11 and Luigenius completed.

"Alright, you're both good on yer way," the Koopa said. He handed Luigenius a clue, and hesitated before giving collete11 hers.

"Let's catch up; they might still be there!" Luigenius said.

**Deb, Goombaria, Francesca, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigi, Greenleafprince, Marilyn, and Thoreau (Baseball)**

"Geez! This is taking forever," said PPAD, getting bored with the activity.

"Look at that!" said GLP, pointing in the direction of Marilyn. A baseball flew at her at high speed. With high power, she swung, whacking the ball far, far away from Neon Heights. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"I think she'll be on her way soon," said Francesca.

**Vivian and Tippi (Shooting)**

"That was pretty hard," said Tippi.

"I know! I am a total klutz with a revolver! I just use fire," said Vivian.

"Well, looks like botha yeh can skedaddle up there with the resta them," said the Koopa, handing them each their half-clue.

"I had no idea I'd actually got it right," said Vivian.

**The 6:15 flight, arriving at 10:02 PM**

"Alright, we need a taxi up to the rocket launch pad," said Birdo.

"TAXI!" screeched Boo, getting the attention of every freaking taxi driver within a mile of the airport. Several of them ran right off the road, into random, concrete objects. "Oops…"

Luckily for the two groups, a taxi arrived soon. "We can all fit into one of these taxis, don't ya think?" said Yoshi.

"Come on, Dry Bones," said Boo.

"Eck!" Dry Bones replied. The four piled into the taxi, literally.

At the launch pad, the four were a bit surprised to see eight contestants, waiting.

"Looks like we have a Roadblock," said Boo. He floated out of the taxi, letting the other three fall out, discombobulated.

"No… I don't know what this is," said Boo, pulling out a clue. After about thirty seconds, the other three made their way over to the box, and Yoshi retrieved a clue.

"Fork? That's weird…" Yoshi read the purpler of the cards. "Who do you think should do what?"

"I think I'd be better at baseball. You can go shoot," said Boo, to Dry Bones.

"Eck? Eck-eck eck!" asked Dry Bones.

"Because! If you hit the ball as hard as necessary, your arms will fall off!" Boo said. Not waiting for a reply, Boo floated off to the baseball diamond.

"What's on the other card?" asked Birdo. Yoshi pulled the green card from behind.

"It's a Fast Forward!" Yoshi said.

"Well, hurry! Open it!" Birdo said.

"To get this Fast Forward, make your way to the casino…" Yoshi read.

_To win the Fast Forward, teams will have to travel to the center of Neon Heights, where they'll find the most famous casino, the Grande Shroom. At the Grande Shroom, one slot will be marked with race flags. Teams will be watched by a moderator, who will make sure that they get five sets of three matching symbols on the slots. The three symbols on the slots are lemons, bars, and sevens. It doesn't matter what the symbols are, so the odds are higher of quick success, but a rout of bad luck will cause a waste of time._

"Should we try the Fast Forward this early in the race?" asked Birdo.

"Well, the odds are kind of against us, or, the fact that we'd win. We might as well be in first for one leg," said Yoshi.

"You sound so negative… but I'd rather play slots than baseball," said Birdo.

**Deb, Goombaria, Francesca, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigi, Greenleafprince, Marilyn, Thoreau, and Boo (Baseball)**

Not surprising whatsoever to the others, Marilyn was the first to knock three out of the park.

"Good job, now here's your clue," said the Goomba, handing her the clue. "Don't open that 'til you see that partner o' yours."

"Guh!" agreed Marilyn, and she went off.

After a short while, seven of the remaining contestants heard a loud "YES!" from Francesca. "I can't believe I did it!" she cried.

"The thing that surprised me the most was how good I was at baseball. I mean, seriously? It's me, ME! I'm not a sports girl, but maybe I should try baseball!" Francesca said, giggling. "No, that would drive Daddy crazy!"

Soon after, Luigi, Deb, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy were finished, in that order.

"Thank god for that being over!" said PPAD.

"Yeah; totally not fun," said Deb.

"Come on! We'd better hurry on back; looks like our 'faithful' taxis have abandoned us!" Luigi said, running.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Tenth**

"Alright, you just need to get five matches," said the Top Hat Goomba, standing behind the dinos. "You ready?" he said. "Slots are one coin each."

"As soon as I heard the Goomba say one coin, my heart skipped a beat," said Birdo.

"If we got a lot of bad rolls, it could cost us a lot of money," said Yoshi.

"Well, good-bye to this coin," said Yoshi, releasing it into the slot. He and Birdo both grasped the lever, and pulled down. After holding it for a few seconds, they released together.

"Lemon…" said the machine. "Lemon…" Yoshi and Birdo held hands, hoping for another lemon. "Bar."

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

"Okay, it says, 'Make your way to the base of the city…'" Francesca read.

_Teams now have to travel down to Neon Heights' lowest elevation point, at which there is a platform. Once there, they'll see a familiar face, who'll tell them what's going to happen next._

"That's not very specific," said Vivian.

"Come on, Francesca! We gotta get down dere before dey all catch up ta us!" said Frankie.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Third**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fourth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

"Make your way to the base of the city…" Luigenius began.

"We're going to see a 'familiar face'? What's that supposed to mean?" asked Dot.

"I don't know, but it sounds interesting to me," said Deb.

"Well, the Sirens and the Piantas are just up ahead," said DP.

"I know we are; thank you," joked Deb.

"I meant the other Piantas," said DP. "Come on; we can catch up."

**Goombaria, Greenleafprince, Thoreau, and Boo (Baseball)**

Not surprisingly, Thoreau was very good at the baseball. He'd managed to get two, while each of the others respectively had one.

"Just one more for me," he said. He tried to speak to himself, as he didn't want to seem haughty.

"It's kind of a good feeling, I guess. I mean, it's weird, and kind of guilty, but it's nice to know that I'm doing better than the others at something," said Thoreau.

"Yay! I got one!" said Goombaria. She was obviously dead tired of the baseball, and was glad she'd hit 2/3 of her required score.

"You can do it, Goombaria!" said Boo, cheeringly. He wasn't doing so poorly, himself, but he was still rather… average.

Average. It was the perfect word to describe Greenleafprince's performance as well. "Ugh!" she said. "I feel so… average!"

"Of course! If you weren't just average, you'd be out of here by now," laughed Boo.

"Ouch," said GLP. "That was cold."

"Chill, I'm just joking," Boo replied.

"Yeah, well I don't see you doing so well," GLP said. Right after saying so, Boo cracked the bat, flinging the ball out to the stands.

"I'm sorry?" asked Boo.

"Urgh."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Tenth**

"It's alright, you guys just need four more," said the Goomba.

"Yeah, four, which is not much less than five!" said Birdo. They'd already spent about ten coins.

"We've just got to be calm," said Yoshi. Inserting an eleventh coin, he calmly and coolly pulled the lever. Releasing, he watched the slots. "Seven…" it said.

"Oh, great. It's impossible to get three freaking…" Birdo began.

"Seven…" said the slot machine.

"There's no way," said Birdo. The slot machine eventually stopped.

"Seven." The eyes of the dinos widened, and they hugged as hundreds of coins poured out of the machine.

"We did it! We got sevens!" said Birdo. She hugged Yoshi tightly.

"I knew we could do it," said Yoshi.

"Oh, we can't celebrate yet! We've still got to do three more sets!" said Birdo.

"Three more? That's it? No biggee!" said Yoshi. And Birdo knew that it wasn't a biggee.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

"Look! It's… Beldam!" said Vivian.

"Guh?" said Marilyn, in disbelief.

"Guh guh guh uh? Guh guh guh ugh uh guh guh uh!" said Marilyn.

"It was so cool that we got to see sis during the race! I couldn't believe it!" said Vivian.

"Hey, Beldam!" said Vivian. The two Sirens raced over and hugged their sister.

"Hey, how are you doing?" she asked.

"It's so cool to see you! Oh my god, how'd they let you do this?" Vivian asked.

"Each team gets their next bit of info from a close friend or family member. Obviously, I was the right choice," said Beldam.

"Okay, what's our next clue then?" asked Vivian.

Frankie and Francesca found their 'close friend or family member' very quickly.

"DADDY!" said Francesca, running over to embrace her father.

"Hey, doll. How's Frankie been treatin' ya?" Don asked.

"Oh, he's great, Daddy! What are you doing here?" Francesca asked. She knew Don wanted her to stop, but she kept hugging him.

"I'm here to tell you your next clue. You need to get back on da plane," Don said.

"Huh?" asked Frankie.

"You need to catch a flight for da Mushroom Village. You'd better hurry if you wanna get to da finish line first," said Don.

"Oh, Daddy, I love you! It's so great to see you!" Francesca squeezed him as tight as she could, and let go.

"Have a good time, sweet pea," said Don.

"See ya, Boss!" said Frankie.

"Thank you, Daddy! I love you!" Francesca said. The two ran back in the direction of the airport.

"Mushroom Village, eh?" said Vivian. "Sounds cool! See you, Beldam!"

"Good luck! And hurry, those Piantas are beating you!" Beldam said. Vivian, smiling, ignored the last sentence.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Third**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fourth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

"Look at that! It's Daisy!" said Luigi. He and Luigenius ran up.

"Hey, Luigi! What's up, you two?" asked Daisy, hugging Luigi.

"Well, we're kind of on the Amazing Race and all," Luigenius replied.

"No! Really?" said Daisy, overly sarcastically.

"Yeah," said Luigi, slightly blushing.

"I'm here to tell you two that you need to go back to the airport. You have to get on a flight to Mushroom Village," Daisy said.

"See you later!" said Luigi, awkwardly.

"Bye!" said Daisy.

"Hey, it's him!" said Deb, pointing in the direction of another Pianta, with a guitar.

"It's Danny!" said Dot. "Hey, Danny! Are you giving us our next clue?"

"Yep, I'm here to tell you to go get on a flight to Mushroom Village," said Danny, strumming the guitar.

"It's so cool! How'd you get in on this?" asked Deb.

"The race told me that you two were competing, and they needed someone to say 'hey' and give you a clue. So, of course, I jumped in," said Danny.

"Well, I'm so sorry that we have to go!" replied Dot.

"Good luck! See ya later!" said Danny.

Unfortunately for DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, who didn't really know anyone in common, they were met by Tumble.

"Hey, Tumble, are you giving us our next clue?" asked PPAD.

"Yup! You guys need to get on the quickest flight out to Mushroom Village. Good luck!" said Tumble. And with that, the two left.

**Goombaria, Greenleafprince, Thoreau, and Boo (Baseball)**

After about twenty minutes, Thoreau struck it big. Again.

"Great hittin' today. Come back by sometime, and bring that shady chick," said the Goomba. Thoreau was shocked at this, and smacked the Goomba in the face.

"Her name is Marilyn, and she's a Shadow Siren," said Thoreau, pulling the clue from the surprised Goomba's grip.

"Whoa, that is some third degree," said Boo. Soon, he'd hit another out, and was unknowingly followed by Greenleafprince and then Goombaria.

"I was so happy when the baseball was over. It is not my cup of tea. Well, I don't drink tea, but if I drank tea, baseball wouldn't be in my cup. Metaphorically, of course," said Goombaria.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Sixth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Seventh**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Eighth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Ninth**

"We have to go to the southernmost point of the city," said c11.

"Which also happens to be at the lowest elevation," said Tippi.

"Gee, that doesn't sound like it was planned at all!" said Boo.

"Come on! I wanna know what they mean by familiar," said Goombario.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Tenth**

"About how many coins have we spent?" asked Birdo.

"About fifty, I'd say," said Yoshi.

"And how many in total have we won?"

"I think around five, six hundred."

"You guys only need one more, and you've already gotten a lot of money," said the Top Hat Goomba. "Unfortunately, you don't get to take the money. You just get to use it for this game."

"WHAT?" said Yoshi. "I GOT A TRIPLE SEVEN!"

"I've never seen Yoshi blow up like that, but I was really, really ticked as well. I totally understand," said Birdo.

"Calm down, it's not like you've lost more than ten coins. You're still gonna win something if you're first," said the Goomba.

"Ugh," said Birdo. She pulled down the lever, and smiled at the lineup of three bars.

"Here's your Fast Forward, congratulations," said the Goomba.

"Whatever," said Yoshi, frowning.

"'Make your way to the bank in Mushroom Village'… Yoshi, we have to get on a plane!" Birdo said.

_Teams must now proceed to the bank, the northernmost building in the main center of Mushroom Village. At this bank, players of Mario Party checked their stars and any special blocks currently in use. Today, this is the Amazing Race's third pit stop._

"That could have totally ruined our far distance ahead," said Yoshi. "I was hoping that the other teams had a Roadblock or something."

"Well, I guess we just have to go," said Yoshi.

"We'd better get to the airport," said Birdo.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eighth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Ninth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Tenth**

"Look!" said Thoreau. "It's Slim!" The thin-itizing friend of the two Pixls was waiting for them.

"Howdy! I'm here to tell you what's up next for y'all," said Slim.

"Dude, it's so cool that you're here!" said Tippi.

"I thought we weren't allowed to have contact with friends during the race," said Thoreau.

"Well, I guess these guys are all in the loop," said Tippi.

"Y'all need to get back on a plane and fly yer way far on out to Mushroom Village, a'ight?" said Slim. "Good luck!"

Boo and Dry Bones were met by another good friend of theirs, Koopa.

"Hey, Koopa, what's shakin'?" said Boo.

"You need to get on up to the airport and fly to Mushroom Village if you want to win this. There're already five teams before you," said Koopa.

"Eck!" said Dry Bones.

"Yeah, I know. Have a good time, and don't get eliminated!" said Koopa.

Collete11 and Greenleafprince, having no common friends outside the race, were left to see the other race host. "What's up, McBallyHoo?" said c11.

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, you're the eighth team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

"Seriously?" said c11.

"Yeah, but this isn't the pit stop," laughed McBallyHoo. "Get on a plane to Mushroom Village."

"Alright, thanks," said GLP. The two turned around without thinking of bidding the odd host adieu.

Goombaria shrieked. "Goomama!" she said. She ran to hug her mom.

"Hey, dear. I hope you two are staying out of trouble," Goomama said.

"Yeah, mom, we're fine. How are you?" asked Goombario.

"I'm pretty good. Listen, your next stop is Mushroom Village. Get on a flight for there," Goomama said.

"Wait, what do we do when we get there?" asked Goombaria.

"I don't know, but I guess there'll be a nearby clue box or something. Good luck, dear! I love you two! Be careful!" said Goomama.

**The Base of Neon Heights**

Three still stood, waiting for their friends or family members to arrive. They hadn't been told which teams were still in, and which one team hadn't come yet.

"So it's Roy and Wendy…" said Ludwig, sitting down next to the other two.

"…Yoshi and Birdo…" said Boshi, leaning against a wall.

"…or Dimentio and O'Chunks," said Nastasia, standing with excellent posture.

"Hey, here comes McBallyHoo," said Ludwig, pointing beyond the others.

"Two of you don't need to be here, as your teams have been eliminated," said McBallyHoo.

"We know, big guy. Which two?" said Boshi.

"And the other team took the Fast Forward, so there's no point in any of you being here," finished McBallyHoo.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Ludwig.

"That's bull!" said Boshi.

"Who was eliminated?" asked Nastasia.

"You'll have to watch the show," said McBallyHoo. "When it finally comes out, that is."

"What the… ugh, I'm outta here," said Boshi.

"This is not fair at all," said Nastasia.

"The other seven of you are free to leave, there's nothing to do here that the race will pay for," said McBallyHoo.

"Wow," said Goomama.

"That was so not nice!" said Daisy.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Third**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fifth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Sixth**

"What's the next flight to Mushroom Village?" asked Vivian to a Goomba at the desk.

"Um… our next flight out is at midnight. It gets there at about noon, tomorrow. It's indirect, through…" the Goomba said. He typed more into the computer. "Through Faire Square, that is."

"When's the next direct flight?" asked Deb.

"Let's see… we've got one that leaves at 1:00 AM. It arrives at 11:45-ish," said the Goomba.

"What do you tink?" said Frankie.

"I guess we might as well wait until one," said Francesca.

"Are dere any other airlines dat have flights dat arrive before den?" asked Frankie.

"…No," said the Goomba.

"Den we'll take da 1:00 flight, please," said Frankie.

"There are ten of you? We've only got six tickets left," said the Goomba.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

"Look! There're already five other teams here!" said Birdo, opening the airport door.

"Yeah, and here comes a few more," said Yoshi, looking back.

"Yoshi! Birdo!" said Luigi. "Where were you guys?" Yoshi held up the Fast Forward. "Oh, congrats!" Luigi said, optimistically yet confused.

"I didn't think that Yoshi and Birdo would have gone for the Fast Forward. If we'd have stayed in Neon Heights and the pit stop was there, they'd have probably been farther ahead. I feel sorry for them," said Luigi.

"Excuse me," said Birdo, at a desk about ten feet past the one that the other five teams were, "when is the next flight out to Mushroom Village? The one that arrives the earliest, I mean."

"There's a 1:00 flight from our airlines," said the Koopa at the desk. "There're only six tickets left, and it seems that those other ten are trying to think of who should get them."

"We'll take two," said Birdo.

"I was a bit surprised by the fact that Birdo was willing to screw with five teams by leaving them only two spots instead of three on the earliest flight," said Yoshi.

"I really want to win the race, and if it means putting a few weaker teams behind, so be it," said Birdo.

"Hey," said the Goomba in front of the five discussing teams. "There're only four tickets left!"

"WHAT?" said nine of the ten people- Marilyn had said 'GUH?'

"That's insanity!" said DP.

"Well, who gets the tickets?" asked Dot.

"I think we should let Dot and Deb take two," said Luigi.

"Why?" asked Deb.

"Because you're both ladies, and we're just being respectful," Luigi finished.

"Aw! That's so sweet!" said Dot.

"No, we can't do it. We've already gotten first once; we can let someone else have a shot," said Deb.

"It doesn't matter! Yoshi and Birdo got a Fast Forward," said Luigenius.

"AND they got two of our freakin' tickets," said PPAD.

"Who thinks that Dot and Deb should get two of the tickets? Majority rules," said Francesca. She along with seven others held up their hands. The two Pianta sisters were the only nay-sayers.

"Alright, we'll take them," said Deb, receiving the tickets from the Goomba.

"I feel bad about taking those tickets. We should have given them to a team that had a better chance of getting first, like the other Piantas," said Deb.

"It was so nice of them to vote for us to have the tickets. It feels great to have such close friends, to be around such wonderful people," said Dot.

"Then we should give Marilyn and Vivian the other tickets?" said DP.

"Dat sounds fair enough to me," said Frankie.

"Oh, okay," said Vivian. "Thank you!"

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"I guess the six of us will take tickets for the midnight flight," said Francesca. The tickets were printed, and the teams were on their way- to sit on the bench for half an hour.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Eighth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Ninth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Tenth**

The four teams quickly ran to the desk with the Goomba. "When's the earliest flight to Mushroom Village?" asked GLP.

"We've got two seats on the one that leaves in 45 minutes, at midnight," said the Goomba.

"…" said all eight.

"Okay, we'll do this simply. Point at who you think should have the tickets," said c11. Only five hands were pointing, as Tippi and the Goombas lacked hands.

"All five of you are pointing at the Goombas," said Tippi.

"Okay, we'll take them," said Goombario.

"Thank you!" said Goombaria. She looked around and saw some other teams sitting. "Come on, big bro!"

"Fire Flower International has a flight at 12:30. It goes through Windmillville, but you should get to Mushroom Village at about… 1:00 PM," said the Goomba.

"I guess we'll check that flight out," said c11. The three teams had soon purchased tickets for that flight.

_On the 12:00 indirect flight through Faire Square are married couple Frankie and Francesca, friends Luigi and Luigenius, friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, and siblings Goombario and Goombaria._

_On the 12:30 Fire Flower International indirect flight through Windmillville are friends Tippi and Thoreau, friends Boo and Dry Bones, and friends collete11 and Greenleafprince._

_On the 1:00 direct flight are dating couple Yoshi and Birdo, sisters Dot and Deb, and sisters Vivian and Marilyn._

**Neon Heights Airport: 1:00 AM flight teams**

"You can't be serious!" said Deb. She read the electronic board of 'Departures', and saw that their flight was 'DELAYED- 30 MIN.'.

"Ugh! We'll be back behind the group that left at 12:00," said Birdo.

MUCH TIME PASSES…

**The 12:00 flight, arriving at Mushroom Village at 12:07 PM**

"Um, where's that clue box?" asked Luigi.

"I don't know, but we should split up," said PPAD.

"Good idea!" said Goombario. "How about Luigi and Luigenius search in here with us, and you four look outside?"

"Sounds good ta me," said Frankie. He, Francesca, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy exited the airport.

"Hey, here it is!" said Francesca. She pulled out a clue, closely followed by DonPianta.

"Where'd do we have to go now?" said PPAD.

"Make your way to the Mini-Game Shop…" read Francesca.

_Teams now have to get a taxi to drive them one mile from the airport to the town center, where they will find a few buildings. One is the Mini-Game Shop, in which they'll find their next clue._

"Warning- Yield Ahead," said DP.

"As soon as I saw that Yield, I got nervous," said DP. "But why should I be nervous? We'd be the first group to arrive, and none of us wanted to Yield each other."

"Hey! We found it out here!" said Francesca, waving over Luigi, Luigenius, Goombario, and Goombaria.

"A Yield…" said Luigenius. "Fun!"

"…" said Luigi.

"Yeah, like I said, Luigenius can be a bit… unpredictable," said Luigi.

"Well, come on!" said Francesca. "TAXI!"

**The Mini-Game Shop**

"Isn't this little village so cute?" said Francesca.

"Um… if you say so," said Frankie.

"Dere are just some tings I won't do, and one o' dem is callin' sometin' 'cute'. It ain't gonna happen," said Frankie.

"Well, here's the shop!" said the taxi driver.

"Tanks!" said Frankie, paying him. The Piantas were closely followed by the other three teams.

"It must be inside," said Luigi.

"Come on, then!" said PPAD.

Frankie and Francesca were the first ones to stand on the Yield Mat. "We shouldn't yield anybody," said Frankie.

"Okay," said Francesca. They removed their 'Yielded' and 'Courtesy Of' photos.

"I don't think we should Yield, either," said DP. PrincessPeachAndDaisy was way ahead of him, already folding the pictures and placing them in her pocket.

"Should we Yield anyone, you think?" asked Luigi, stepping on the mat.

"Who is a threat?" Luigenius said. He thumbed through the cards. "Ah, how about Boo and Dry Bones?"

"Um, I guess so," said Luigi. Before he had 'so' out, Luigenius had posted the pictures.

"I guess we won't Yield, then," said Goombario.

"Okay, what's de clue say, sugar plum?" asked Frankie.

"It's a Roadblock! 'Who is better at games?'" Francesca read.

_A Roadblock is a challenge that only one player does. In this Roadblock, the chosen member will enter the large, green pipe in the center of the town, and begin a classic game that the town calls 'Mario Party'. The players will each roll a large die in a random, predetermined order, until they circle the board. After reaching the end, they will be given their next clue. In this game, there are 76 spaces- 62 blue spaces and 14 red. If a player finishes a roll on a blue space, the team member will be given three coins, which can be used later on in the race as wished. If a red space is landed on, the player will lose three coins._

"A game? I wanna do this one!" said Goombaria.

"I'll take on this," said DP.

"I guess I'll play a game," said Frankie.

"I'll go; I'm overly familiar with 'Mario Parties'," said Luigi. After a short walk to the pipe, the four gamers epically entered.

**The 1:00 AM flight, arriving at 12:18 PM**

"Now we've got to find the clue box," said Dot.

"I think it's outside," said Vivian.

"Good luck!" said Yoshi. He and Birdo left for the benefits of the Fast Forward to be executed.

Soon, the Piantas and Sirens had found the clue box. "We have to get a taxi to the Mini-Game Shop," read Deb.

"Uh-oh… we have a Yield up ahead!" said Dot, looking over her shoulder.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"Well, let's just try to get a freakin' taxi to stop," said Deb.

"No worries, my Infatuation will help us get a driver!" said Vivian. She used her Infatuation skills, and a lot of taxis came in.

"It was so cool using Infatuation to get the taxi drivers to come. Eighteen male drivers showed up! And two girls!" laughed Vivian

All three teams left at around the same time.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

The dinos, looking behind them, saw the Sirens enter the Mini-Game Shop, closely followed by the Piantas. Yoshi looked at Birdo, who was looking back at him. "Let's do this," said Yoshi. The two ran up the bank's stairs, and pulled open the door. Right near the front was the mat, and Tumble was standing beside it.

"Yoshi and Birdo, you're team number one!" said Tumble.

**Yoshi and Birdo: Leg Three: Team One- 12:25 PM**

"Cool!" said Birdo.

"We did it!" said Yoshi.

"And, as winners of this leg, you've both won a free, lifetime supply of Honey Shrooms, excellent delicacies cooked by none other than the Tayce T. and the Zess T.!

"Awesome!" said Birdo.

"It felt good to get first in a leg after being in the bottom half for two legs," said Yoshi. "Plus, this was probably one of the best first-in-leg rewards ever. I love to eat!" he laughed.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh**

"Hey, Luigi and Luigenius Yielded Boo and Dry Bones!" said Vivian.

"Guh, guh guh guh guh guh uh uh guh," said Marilyn.

"Yeah, I know," said Vivian.

"Um…" said Dot.

"I guess we can't use Yield, then. Unless we want to bend the rules and über-Yield Boo and Dry Bones or something," said Deb.

"What's the clue say?" asked Dot. Vivian handed her a clue. "Roadblock!"

"I think I'm a better gamer, no offense," said Vivian.

"Guh," replied Marilyn, nonchalantly.

"You can do this one, Deb!" said Dot.

"Okay," said Deb. She jumped in, followed by Vivian.

**Frankie**

**DonPianta**

**Luigi**

**Goombaria**

"This is kind of cool," said Luigi. He hadn't seen the board the last time he was there. It was basically aboard a giant, red Mushroom, with the spaces spiraling to the center and then forming a radius between the center and the start.

"It's kind of bland though," said Goombaria. The background they could see was just blue sky, clouds, and the sun.

"Yeah, this is getting boring," said DP.

"Dese speakers are getting' on my nerves," said Frankie. Every turn someone had, the speaker would say, "FRANKIE'S TURN!", for example.

"LUIGI'S TURN!" it blared.

"Ugh, I'm so going to be deaf after this," said Luigi. He hit the giant die over his head, and got a 4. "Yay, I've moved all of ten spaces," he said.

The turns basically went "LUIGI! GOOMBARIA! DONPIANTA! FRANKIE!", so during the ¾ of the game that any given player wasn't moving, they were most likely stand-sleeping or complaining. Eventually, they'd moved about halfway around the game board. The pipe near the start space made the warp noise, and up came Deb, then Vivian.

"Welcome to the game of Mario Party!" said the Shy Guy at the start space.

"This game is boring," said Goombaria.

"That's just because you don't get to play the full version!" said the Shy Guy. "Vivian! You'll go between Goombaria and DonPianta. And Deb will go between Luigi and Goombaria, alright? Alright!"

"DONPIANTA'S TURN!" DonPianta sighed and hit the dice block.

"It would figure that I would get two 1s in a row," he said.

"FRANKIE'S TURN!"

"I'm gonna smash dat ting if I don't get outta here in de next five minutes," said Frankie, rolling and moving 3.

"LUIGI'S TURN!"

"Haha! I got a 10!" Luigi said.

"It's about time someone got something over, I don't know, four?" said Goombaria.

"It'd be better if you weren't about to land on a red space!" shouted DP at Luigi. Three of Luigi's coins disappeared.

"ACH!" said Luigi. Vivian couldn't help but laugh.

"DEB'S TURN!"

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to get very annoyed by this thing?" asked Deb.

"Because the four of them seem to be very annoyed," replied Vivian.

"I'm so sorry you have to do this," said DP. Deb hit her die, and moved forward 3.

"GOOMBARIA'S TURN!" Goombaria hit a '5'.

"I swear that they're giving us a slow block!" she said.

"Dis is somethin' I should have made her do," said Frankie, in reference to his teammate.

"You hate her that much?" said Luigi, sarcastically.

Time passes…

By now, the order was this: Goombaria was closest, then Frankie, than Luigi, then Vivian, then DonPianta, and finally Deb.

"At least this is all almost over!" said Goombaria. She rolled a 1. "Or not."

Vivian rolled a '9', getting her one space behind Luigi. "How have you gotten so many 7s, 8s, and 9s?" asked Deb.

"I don't know, but I'm doing better than you!" replied Vivian.

"That was cold," said Deb.

After two more turns, Frankie had gotten out first, followed by Goombaria thirty seconds later. "Hey! Wait up!" she said, following Frankie out the pipe, with clue in tow.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"Wow, that took a long time," said Goombario.

"It. Was. Torture!" said Goombaria.

"Frankie! I'm sorry you had to be tortured!" said Francesca. Unable to hold her façade, she burst into laughter. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she said, between laughs. "I can't stop!" she said, laughing some more. "Just… just read it!"

"'Detour! Mix-Up or Scamper?'" read Goombaria.

_Teams must ride on one of ten rafts docked in the small river to reach the nearby Mini-Game Island. Once there, they must pick to play either of these two mini-games: Mushroom Mix-Up or Skateboard Scamper. In Mushroom Mix-up, the team members must both go on two separate platforms, each of which is divided into seven platforms of different colors. A color will display on the screen, and the players will have a very short time to get aboard that color of platform. The other six will dip down into the water below, getting the player wet. They will have to swim back to the ladder up to the platforms and climb it, wasting time. If they are on the one platform still above water, they will earn their team one point. After 30 points are earned, teams will receive their next clue. In Skateboard Scamper, each member will have to ride a skateboard down a half-mile track, avoiding various obstacles. The track is divided into four sections, after each of which is a checkpoint. If the player falls off the skateboard, they have to return to the closest checkpoint behind them. While this does not require speed, it can be tricky to balance and avoid obstacles over such a long course._

"I think we should do the skateboard one," said Goombario.

"Yeah!" agreed Goombaria.

"I'm a klutz on a skateboard!" said Francesca.

"It's okay, butter biscuit. We got dis; we can do da platform one," said Frankie.

**Luigi**

**Vivian**

**DonPianta**

**Deb**

It had taken another few minutes, but Luigi and Vivian had both finally gotten out of there.

"Detour: Mix-Up or Scamper?" said Luigi.

"Let's do Skateboard Scamper," said Luigenius after reading the clue.

"We should do the skateboard one, too," said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

**The 12:30 AM flight, arriving at 12:58 PM**

"The clue box is outside! Right there!" said Boo.

"Okay, we've gotta get a taxi to the Mini-Game Shop," said c11.

"Warning- Yield Ahead," read Thoreau.

"I bet one of the teams up ahead Yielded another one of those skilled teams," said Boo.

"Yeah, I hope so," said Tippi.

**Mini-Game Shop**

"You've got to be kidding me," said Boo.

"Eck! Eck! Eck!" said Dry Bones, angrily. He picked up the hourglass and flipped it.

"Thirty more minutes…" Boo said.

"I'm so sorry!" said GLP. She picked out a clue and another for the Pixls. "Roadblock! Who's better… games, collete. Games. I will own this," she read.

"I'll go for this," said Thoreau.

**Inside the Game Pipe**

"Could this be any boringer and annoyinger?" said Thoreau.

"You know, like neither of those are words," said GLP.

"I know," said Thoreau.

"GREENLEAFPRINCE'S TURN!"

"I am going to destroy those speakers," said GLP to herself. She groaned as she rolled a 2.

"THOREAU'S TURN!" Thoreau silently rolled a 4 and landed on a red space- not so silently.

"Dang it!"

**Mini-Game Lake (Mushroom Mix-Up)**

"Wow, this is really easy!" said Francesca. She'd already racked up ten points.

"Dat's easy for you to OOOOOGH-FF!" shouted Frankie, falling into the water. Francesca could only laugh at him.

"I guess I have to get all the points?" she shouted at him so he could hear. Frankie ignored her. "I thought so," she said, giggling.

**Inside the Game Pipe**

"You'd think we would have gotten out after, say, twenty minutes?" said DP to Deb as they received their clues.

"I know, right?" said Deb.

"Hey! Took you long enough," said PPAD.

"Come on; we have a Detour. Mix-Up or Scamper?" said DP. "I think we should do Mushroom Mix-Up."

"Yeah, sounds good to me," replied PPAD.

"Let's do the skateboards! It sounds like fun!" said Dot. Deb agreed.

**Mini-Game Park (Skateboard Scamper)**

The Goombas, Luigi, Luigenius, and Vivian, being relatively short and slim, were rather able to stay aboard their skateboards.

"This isn't so bad WHOA!" shouted Goombario as he crashed into a passing Koopa.

"Ouch!" said the Koopa. Goombaria laughed.

"Nice one, bro!" she said, looking back. Not paying attention, she slipped into a small lake.

"Nice one, sis," said Goombario.

"Urgh!" Goombaria growled back.

Marilyn, due to her weight, was also having some trouble. She fell about every couple hundred feet, and it took a short while for her to re-board. "Guh!" she groaned.

"It's okay, Marilyn! You can do this! You've just got to focus and be calm!" said Vivian. Marilyn deeply inhaled, then exhaled. She felt much more relaxed. She whizzed right past the first checkpoint, then the second. She totally fell into rut in the track though.

"Guh," she said, sighing.

**Thoreau**

**Greenleafprince**

Greenleafprince spent most of the time a few spaces behind Thoreau, and this was alright with Thoreau, who rather wanted not to be eliminated. But Thoreau's rolls were diminishing. "Another 3?" he said, shocked.

Greenleafprince smirked as she rolled. "Another 7?" she said, mocking Thoreau as she passed by.

"You're so lucky that this is being video recorded, or I would slap you," said Thoreau.

**Mini-Game Lake (Mushroom Mix-Up)**

The style of quickly sliding from red platform to white to yellow to light blue, etc, came to DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy rather well. At the time that Frankie and Francesca reached 30, they already had 14.

"Keep up the good work!" said Francesca. A Cheep-Cheep handed the totally dry, female a clue. "Can you read this for me, I'm too busy gloating," she said to the drenched male.

"It says, 'Make your way to de Mushroom Bank, which is de pit stop…'… de pit stop!" Frankie read.

"Come on, then!" Francesca said, running to re-board their raft.

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Tenth**

"Come on… just a few more seconds…" said Boo. "Now!" Dry Bones ran and pulled out the last clue.

"Eck-eck! 'Eck eck eck-eck eck?'" he read.

"I think I'll pull this one," said Boo, floating out of the shop and towards the pipe.

**Mini-Game Park (Skateboard Scamper)**

With surprising style and a high amount of cool points, the first team to reach the end of the line was Goombario and Goombaria.

"That was pretty cool! Except for the whole lake thing…" said Goombaria.

"Hey, ten weeks from now, you'll look back at this and laugh," said Goombario.

"Hey! We get to go to the pit stop now!" Goombaria read.

"Awesome! Come on!" Goombario said, running to the raft furthest up the river.

"It was a good thing that the river didn't really have any flow, as it made it much easier for us to paddle back up to the town center," said Goombario.

Eventually, Marilyn had just used the quickly-race-down-the-track-due-to-gravity-and-get-lucky-with-the-obstacles method, reaching the end as Vivian did.

"Hey, you did it! And now, let us rest- at the pit stop!" Vivian said. The two made their way back to the rafts.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

The Piantas, holding hands, ran up the stairwell and opened the bank doors. Tumble and McBallyHoo were standing on either side of the mat.

"Frankie and Francesca, you're team number two," said McBallyHoo.

**Frankie and Francesca: Leg Three: Team Two- 1:37 PM**

"Yay! We did it, Frankie!" said Francesca.

"Dis is great, sugar cookie!" said Frankie, hugging her.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

"This little town is actually pretty cool," said Goombario.

"But this bank looks so… official," said Goombaria, opening the door. The Sirens were close behind.

"Wow, that leg felt really long to me for some reason," said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn

"Goombario and Goombaria, you're team number three!" said Tumble

**Goombario and Goombaria: Leg Three: Team Three- 1:40 PM**

"Yay! We made it in the top three!" said Goombaria.

"Of course; we're a great team!" Goombario explained.

"Vivian and Marilyn, you're team number four," said McBallyHoo.

**Vivian and Marilyn: Leg Three: Team Four- 1:40 PM**

"Awesome!" said Vivian.

"Guh!" agreed Marilyn

**Mini-Game Lake (Mushroom Mix-Up)**

"How many do we have again?" asked DP. "ACH!" Standing on the red platform instead of the orange as he should have, he was dunked into the lake. The platform came back up, pushing DonPianta up as well.

"The screen says we have 28 EEEEEP!" yelled PPAD. She slipped on the wet platforms and flew into the water.

"This game sucks," said DP, watching PPAD swim over and climb the ladder.

"I know," said PPAD.

"Hey, I just got one, so when I get this one, we'll win," said DP. "FRICK!" he shouted as he was dunked again. The force of the water rushing of the rising platform pushed him into the lake.

"Yeah, not so much," said PPAD. She jumped randomly aboard a platform, and the other six sunk. "I did it WHOA!" she shouted as all seven platforms sunk.

**Mini-Game Park (Skateboard Scamper)**

Luigi and Luigenius were past the third checkpoint, the last one before the end and their clue. Dot and Deb were nearing it, but Deb kept falling before reaching the third.

"Come on, Deb, you can do it, girl! Doot doot!" said Dot.

"Yeah, I know, but I have to pay attention or else I'll…" Deb began. She stopped talking and looked intently at the ground before her, which was riddled with bumps and holes. She slowly and carefully rolled over them, shaking but not tipping. "Or else I'll fall," she finished.

"Hey, I'm at the end!" said Luigi.

"I can see that," said Luigenius, approaching from about 20 feet away. He calmly and coolly slid into the end. "Style!" he said. "Alright, what does this clue say?" He opened the clue handed to him, and said, "The pit stop! It's at the bank!"

"Let's-a go!" said Luigi.

"I love your Luigi impression," said Luigenius.

"Thanks, I've been practicing my whole life."

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

"This bank is pretty boring in comparison to the rest of the nice little township here," said DP.

"It matters not. Besides, that's probably why it was chosen," said PPAD. She stepped on the mat, as did her partner.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, you're team number five," said McBallyHoo.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy: Leg Three: Team Five- 1:47 PM**

"Okay, good, I was worried!" said DP.

"How come?" asked PPAD.

"Did you see how many times we fell from those platforms? Not to mention that false beginner edition Mario Party we 'played'," said DP.

**Greenleafprince**

**Thoreau**

**Boo**

After about thirty minutes, Greenleafprince and Thoreau were within ten spaces of the end, and Boo was within thirty.

"BOO'S TURN!" Boo rolled a '10'.

"Wow, Boo, you're getting pretty lucky for someone who was Yielded," said Thoreau.

"Ach, that was unwise," said GLP.

"Don't worry, I'll probably be eliminated," said Boo, ironically.

"I felt a bit bad about mocking Boo for having such bad luck. He and Dry Bones have been in the back the whole game, but, then again, so have Tippi and I," said Thoreau.

"Sorry," said Thoreau. Rolling a 1, he landed on a red space. Greenleafprince rolled a 6, moving her to the last space.

"Thank god that's over with!" GLP said. She retrieved her clue and exited the pipe to visit collete11.

"Hey! That took you like forty five minutes," said c11.

"I know. It was SO BORING!" said GLP. "But, here, we have a Detour."

"Let's totally do the skateboard one," said c11.

"Sounds cool to me," said GLP.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Sixth**

Luigi and Luigenius came into the bank a little bit slower than the other teams. They seemed to be really tired.

"What's wrong?" asked Goombaria.

"I hurt my ankle," said Luigenius, frowning. He slowly walked on the mat.

"Luigi and Luigenius, you're team number six," said Tumble

**Luigi and Luigenius: Leg Three: Team Six- 1:54 PM**

"Well, we could have been worse," said Luigi.

"Yeah, had I hurt my ankle before," said Luigenius.

"How did you hurt it?" asked Tumble.

"I stepped poorly on the side of the step up to this building, and my foot slipped and now it hurts like frick," said Luigenius.

"Do you think it'll affect our placement next leg?" asked Luigi.

"No, I'm sure I'll be fine. Can I have an ice pack?" said Luigenius. McBallyHoo went to retrieve one.

**Mini-Game Park (Skateboard Scamper)**

Dot had surprisingly stayed totally silent and calm throughout the whole run, preventing Deb from losing focus and falling, so they both soon reached the end.

"We have to go to the bank!" said Deb.

"Why?" said Dot.

"Because it's the pit stop, genius," said Deb.

"Oh."

Collete11 and Greenleafprince were total naturals at the riding of skateboards. They finished only five minutes after the Doot Doot Sisters.

"That was some excellent style," said the Goomba who handed them their clue.

"Alright, we have to go the bank for the pit stop!" said GLP.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Ninth**

**Boo and Dry Bones, Currently in Tenth**

"Eck-eck!" said Dry Bones. He'd decided that Boo and he should try the Mushroom Mix-Up.

"We should probably do that one, too," said Tippi.

"Alright," said Thoreau.

**Mini-Game Lake (Mushroom Mix-Up)**

Tippi and Thoreau were quick, speeding to obtain the position upon the platform of proper color.

"Score!" said Thoreau, watching their score go up to 15. "Halfway there!"

"Dry Bones, you're so slow!" said Boo. He flew quickly onto the right platform, watching Dry Bones just barely make his. Their score was 7. "We have a long way to go, bud."

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh**

"Dot and Deb, you're the seventh team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

**Dot and Deb: Leg Three: Team Seven- 1:59 PM**

"Okay, that's alright! Doot doot!" said Dot.

"We dropped six places, sis," said Deb, sadly.

"We could have dropped nine," said Dot.

**Mini-Game Lake (Mushroom Mix-Up)**

"Yeah! We've only got like five more," said Tippi.

"Yeah, but somehow, I feel myself… slowing down," said Thoreau. "Oh, god, I'm really tired."

"It's alright! I can get us these last five," said Tippi. "But you can at least do one, right? Come on, man!" Thoreau weakly floated back aboard the platforms, and tried again.

"This isn't so bad, now that we've got the hang of it, eh?" said Boo.

"Eck-eck!" replied Dry Bones.

"We've got about 22," said Boo.

In about two minutes, both teams reached 30. "Here are your clues!" said the Goomba. The two raced off to prevent elimination.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Eighth**

"I did not expect us to drop so far," said c11, sadly.

"Hey, it's my fault, I failed at doing that stupid Roadblock," replied GLP.

"Nah, it's alright!" replied c11. "We're still in this, and we'll probably catch up to everyone next leg anyway!"

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, you're team number eight," said Tumble.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince: Leg Three: Team Eight- 2:05 PM**

"Alright, it's cool," said c11.

"We're still in, and for now, that's all that matters," said GLP.

**? and ?, Currently in Ninth**

**? and ?, Currently in Tenth**

Both teams could be seen racing toward the bank from the river rafts. One was just a little bit closer. They opened the door and leapt aboard the mat first.

"Tippi and Thoreau, you're team number nine," said Tumble.

**Tippi and Thoreau: Leg Three: Team Nine- 2:26 PM**

"Oh thank goodness!" said Tippi.

"Well, they were behind us, if you're blind," said Thoreau. The Pixls floated off the mat.

"Boo and Dry Bones, you're the last team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

**Boo and Dry Bones: Leg Three: Team Ten- 2:26 PM**

"I'm sorry to tell you that you've been eliminated from the race," McBallyHoo finished.

"Oh, man…" said Boo.

"Eck," said Dry Bones.

"In the end, it was totally worth it. I was able to be a part of three of the most exciting chunks of the most exciting adventure in my life. It was so cool to do it with Dry Bones, as I'm the only one who had any idea what he was saying," said Boo.

"Eck-eck eck eck-eck eck-eck, eck eck-eck eck. Eck-eck eck-eck eck, eck eck eck-eck eck," said Dry Bones.

"Thank you for watching, and join us next time for the Amazing Race!" said Tumble.


	5. Leg 4: It's Called the 9th Dimension

-Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

-Note 2: If you want to check out PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigenius, or Greenleafprince, just look them up as they are. If you're looking for collete11, search for NaraTemari011.

-Note 3: In the first leg, I mentioned that the teams had to find the famous author Pennington to get their next clue. After a bit of research, I've discovered that the actual name of the author in Shiver City is Herringway… fail.

-The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

-Leg Four: It's Called the 9th Dimension

"Hello, and welcome to the Amazing Race!" said Tumble. The Amazing Race theme song played.

"Last time on the race, the ten remaining teams raced to Neon Heights, the bright, bustling city that it is. After a visit, they flew to Mushroom Village," said McBallyHoo.

"Yoshi and Birdo took the Fast Forward, taking them from last to finish the leg in first place," said Tumble.

"The last team to arrive was Boo and Dry Bones, who were eliminated, leaving nine teams," said McBallyHoo.

"Can Yoshi and Birdo maintain their lead? Let's find out!" said Tumble

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

"Arriving at 12:25 PM, Yoshi and Birdo will depart at 12:25 AM," said McBallyHoo.

Yoshi pulled open the first clue. "Alright, it says, 'Make your way back to the airport…'"

_Teams must now return to the airport, where they'll have to catch a flight to the flying city of Geldsburg, a city that was built as a competitor to Glitzville. Teams will find their next clue somewhere near where they exit the airport._

"We've got 67 coins for this leg," said Yoshi.

"Geldsburg?" said Birdo.

"Hey, I've never heard of it," said Yoshi. He yawned, and walked over to the taxi.

"Isn't this supposed to be a race? You know, with, like, racing?" said Birdo.

"Birdo, what are the odds that the airport will be open this early and will have a flight early enough to get ahead of the other teams, the latest of which is only two hours and one minute behind?"

"That's true, I guess. Where are all the taxis?"

LATER…

"Thank you!" said Yoshi as the first taxi they'd seen pulled over to pick them up.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

"Alright, we're at the Mushroom Village Airport, and it opens at…" began Yoshi.

"Wait… it's a three PM to three AM airport?" said Birdo.

"'But only for outgoing flights,'" read Yoshi.

"Well, let's see if we can get a flight out of here ASAP!"

"Excuse me," said Yoshi, tapping the shoulder of a Koopa behind a desk that had fallen asleep.

"I wasn't sucking my thumb!" shouted the Koopa as he jerked awake.

"Um… okay. Can you please tell us which airline has the earliest flight to Geldsburg?" asked Yoshi.

"Let's see…" said the Koopa. He tiredly tapped into the computer, often hitting the '-Backspace' key. "Alright then. Our earliest flight goes off at 2:00, and it's indirect… through the nearby town of Gigderigoo," he said. "There's another flight, it's direct, but it leaves at 2:30. It's with… POW Air."

"Which one do you think we should take?" said Yoshi.

"Let's go for the direct one," said Birdo.

"Okay, um, where's the stand for POW Air?" asked Yoshi. The Koopa pointed to a distant counter. Yoshi and Birdo waved and went to said counter, and purchased the tickets.

MUCH LATER…

"Frankie and Francesca will depart at 1:37 AM," said Tumble.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

"Alright, we've gotta get to de airport and fly to de flyin' city of Geldsburg," said Frankie.

"What is that? Some kind of cheap knockoff version of Glitzville?" asked Francesca. Regardless of the city's knockoff-ness, the Piantas quickly found a taxi to the airport.

"The Goombas Goombario and Goombaria and the Sirens Vivian and Marilyn all are departing at 1:40 AM," said McBallyHoo.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

"Alright, we've gotta get back and fly to… Geldsburg?" said Goombaria.

"What is Geldsburg?" asked Goombario.

"It sounds like a rip-off of Glitzville," said Vivian as she floated over to the road to catch a taxi.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

"Hey, buddy, when's de next flight to de Geldsburg city?" asked Frankie.

"We've got a 2:00, which is the earliest departure," said the Koopa at the desk.

"Alright, we'll take it!" said Francesca.

"Are you sure? It goes through the small town of Gigderigoo," said the Koopa.

"How much time do you think we'd lose versus a direct flight?" asked Francesca.

"I'd say… 15 minutes?" said the Koopa.

"Den we'll just take de 2:00, tanks," said Frankie.

"We'll go with them," said Goombaria.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy are starting this leg at 1:47 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Alright… we're going to Glit… wait… Geldsburg?" said DP.

"Um… that's so… false," said PPAD.

"It matters not; let us find a taxi," said DP. He snapped into the air, epically, and a taxi drove up. "Huzzah!"

"… Let's just go to the airport," said PPAD.

At the airport…

"Hey! You!" said DP, yelling at the Koopa at the nearest desk.

"Oh! Um, welcome to Shell International," he said.

"Yeah, when's the flight that gets to Geldsburg first?" said DP.

"If you go down to the POW Air counter, they have a flight at 2:30," said the Koopa.

"Thanks!" said PPAD.

"WAIT!" shouted the Koopa. The ground shook, and DP and PPAD fell in their places as they were running.

"What?" said DP.

"The earliest ETA is on OUR flight, see…" said the Koopa. "We've got one that leaves at two."

"Well, then, give us that one!" said PPAD.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Sixth**

"Luigi and Luigenius are departing at 1:54 AM," said Tumble.

"Okay, man, we've got to get back to the airport," said Luigi.

"It's only like two minutes away. Where are we going?" said Luigenius, counting the coinage given.

"Geldsburg," said Luigi.

"…" said the two, simultaneously.

"Um, okay," said Luigenius. He walked up to the curb to wait for a taxi.

At the airport…

"The earliest open flight is a 2:30 flight by POW Air," said the Koopa.

"Alright, come on!" said Luigenius, running way ahead of his partner.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh**

"Dot and Deb are leaving at 1:59 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Have you heard of this Geldsburg?" said Deb.

"It's very familiar… but it invokes bad things in my mind…" said Dot.

"Bad like murderers and robbers?" said Deb.

"No; bad like cubic zirconia and salon fingernails," said Dot.

_On the 2:00 Shell International flight through Gigderigoo are married couple Frankie and Francesca, siblings Goombario and Goombaria, sisters Vivian and Marilyn, and friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy._

"Oh man, look!" said Deb, pointing at the solitary plane leaving the airport. "I bet that it's headed to Geldsburg right now, and a lot of teams are on it."

"You can't think like that. We have to believe we can win," said Dot.

Deb laughed. "Wow, you thought that I doubted our abilities? You're not as smart as you used to be!"

"Ah, shove it," said Dot.

"Excuse me," said Deb to a Koopa at the Shell International booth. "When's the next flight to Geldsburg?"

"Funny; you're the seventh person who's asked. But… regardless… our next flight… It's not really OURS, per se… POW Air, at 2:30… you'd better hurry," he said, lacking any sense of brevity.

"Okay, we'll go get those!" said Dot.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Eighth**

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince are leaving at 2:05 AM," said McBallyHoo.

"Alright, we've got 67 coins to help us get to… Geldsburg," said c11.

"Have you heard of this Geldsburg?" said GLP.

"I haven't heard of half the cities in this universe," said c11, finding a taxi.

"…" said the two as they rode inside the taxi.

"My god!" whispered GLP.

"It smells like eighteen skunks died!" c11 said back, pianissimo.

"Thanks for your GACK help!" said GLP, when they finally arrived at the airport. She threw a few coins in the door and shut it, running away.

"That was the longest minute of my life," said c11.

"But now, we're here, and we can look in and see the hustle of three anxious teams, waiting for a flight," said GLP.

"Where are the other four?" asked c11.

"Chill out, they just fell into a black hole and are now in between the 8th and 10th dimensions," said GLP.

"It's called the 9th dimension," said c11, rolling her eyes.

"Let me guess," said a Koopa at a desk, yawning, "that you want a flight to Geldsburg?"

"Yeah," said c11.

"This is the earliest," said the Koopa, handing her two tickets.

"Um, okay… thanks, I guess," c11 said.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Ninth (Last)**

"Tippi and Thoreau are the last team to depart, at 2:26 AM," said Tumble.

"Okay, we'd better catch up," said Thoreau.

"Alright, we need to head to the airport," said Tippi.

"Hey, I don't see any taxis nearby," said Thoreau.

"Well then just wait for one," said Tippi.

**Mushroom Village Airport**

_On the 2:30 POW Air direct flight are dating couple Yoshi and Birdo, friends Luigi and Luigenius, sisters Dot and Deb, and friends collete11 and Greenleafprince._

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Ninth**

"How long have we been waiting?" said Thoreau.

"I don't know…" said Tippi. She floated quickly back to the bank to look at the clock inside. "It's already 2:36, so like ten minutes."

"There has to be at least one taxi in this universe!" said Thoreau.

"Just chill out, we'll get one," said Tippi.

When a taxi finally came, they didn't bother to look at the bank's clock. They simply rushed in and told the driver to floor it.

Arriving at the airport in no time- literally- the two rushed in to find out that they had only twenty minutes to find a flight.

"Oh god, nobody's still here!" said Thoreau.

"It's alright, we've got this!" said Tippi. She went to converse with a Koopa while Thoreau suffered an aneurism/ulcer/cancer/something.

"He says that there's a flight at 2:55, before this place closes," said Tippi.

"That's like fifteen minutes!" said Thoreau.

"Relax. It's with his airlines, Shell International. It's direct, so we'll be alright, okay?" said Tippi.

"Fine," said Thoreau.

_On the 2:55 Shell International direct flight are friends Tippi and Thoreau._

**The 2:30 flight, arriving in Geldsburg at 6:30 AM**

"Uh, it's so early!" said c11.

"At least we actually got sleep. Well… somewhat," said Dot.

"Okay, the clue box is near here somewhere," said Birdo.

"I don't see a clue box anywhere," said Luigi.

"The only thing near here at all is this juice bar," said Deb, reading the sign that said 'Cool Juice'.

"What a creative name," said GLP.

"Maybe it's behind this juice place," said Yoshi. Running around the building, he didn't see the clue box. "Or not."

"Well then it must be inside," said Deb.

"Yeah, I can see it through this strangely golden glass," said Luigenius, pushing open the door. Each team took out one of the clues.

"Oh goody, Route Info," said c11.

"'Make your way into the Gelds Pit,'" read Luigi.

_Teams must now enter the multistory Gelds Pit, a large gymnasium complex. Once inside, they'll have to locate the rather underused pool locker room, where they'll find their next clue box. Included in the clue are keys, by which the teams will unlock the boxes to prevent theft by rogue gym visitors._

"Wow. They're worried about people stealing the clues," said Yoshi.

"What kind of loser would steal a clue from the box?" said Deb, scoffing.

"Well, let's just take these keys and go!" said c11, exiting the juice bar.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Second**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Third**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fourth**

"Look! Another plane is coming in!" said Dot.

"I think they were supposed to be here before us," said Deb.

"Well we don't want them to get ahead, do we?" said Birdo.

"We've totally got this one in the bag," whispered GLP.

**The 2:00 flight, arriving at 6:37 AM**

"Hey! I can see the Piantas and the dinosaurs already going in the Gelds Pit!" said Francesca.

"Dat's alright, sugar blossom, we'll pass dem in de Detour or de Roadblock," said Frankie.

"Well, I'd prefer to pass them now," said Vivian.

"Guh?" asked Marilyn.

"No, I can see the clue box in this juice shop," said Vivian, peering in through the golden glass.

"Well then let's vamos!" said PPAD.

"At that moment, I thought, 'Oh boy. More of that freaking Spanglish.' PPAD speaks Spanglish. A lot. I will never say one more Spanish word in my whole life," said DP.

"What's it say?" asked Goombaria.

"We've gotta find a locker room in this huge gym," said Goombario.

"What gym?" asked Goombaria. PrincessPeachAndDaisy pointed to the Gelds Pit. "Oh."

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in First**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Second**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Third**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fourth**

"This place is huge!" said Dot, looking down the three large hallways that lead to each of the three wings of the pit.

"I can't believe it has wings," said Yoshi. "There can't be this many people that want to exercise."

"There must be, because there are a lot of people here!" said GLP.

"Which wing is it in?" asked Dot.

"I don't know, go ask someone who works here," said Deb.

"No, here's a directory," said Luigi. "It says that it's in the East Wing."

"…Which one's the East Wing?" asked c11.

"The left one," said Luigi. The eight ran down the East Wing, pushing past several gym-goers.

"There are a lot of people here for such a… fake city," said Luigenius.

At the end of the long hallway, there was a large room with a pool. "Okay, but where's the locker room?" asked Deb.

A Goomba that was walking by spoke up. "It's in the level below this one," she said.

"Okay, thanks," said Deb. The Goomba continued on her way.

"Where is a stairwell?" asked Yoshi.

"Hey, over there!" said Birdo, pointing back a few yards. After running to the stairs and down, they came upon a much emptier floor.

"There's nothing down here!" said Luigenius.

"Nothing besides boiler rooms, supply closets, and the pool locker room," said Deb.

"Well, there's no one inside it," said c11, peering in. She soon found the clue box.

"That's kind of cool," said GLP. The clue box was a locker, with race flags painted on. A simple key lock held the clues inside.

"Well, let's take one," said c11. She put her key in the lock, but it didn't turn. "Um… this is new," she said.

"Look over here!" said Dot. "There's more than just one locker."

"Yeah, there are nine," said Luigenius. He tried the key in the nearest locker, finding it not to open.

"Maybe this one will work…" said Birdo. "Maybe not."

"Toss it over here!" said GLP to collete11. After catching it, she stuck the key in the closest locker, pulling the lock open. "Yes!" She took out the one clue inside, and opened it.

"We've got a Detour," said GLP. "'Brevity or Longevity?'"

_A Detour is a choice between two tasks, one of which each team has to do. In Brevity, teams will make their way to the track, accessible from the West Wing. Once there, one team member will have to stand halfway across the half-mile long loop. One team member will race to the other, who will then run to the finish. They have to run the distance in under four minutes and fifteen seconds to receive their next clue. Teams quick on their feet will obviously have no trouble with this task. In Longevity, teams will have to go to the long jump, which is in the middle of the running track. Both team members must be able to run from the designated white line to the front of the sand pit, and jump a distance of six feet before receiving their next clue. Being fast helps, but team members have to jump pretty far. _

"Let's do Brevity; we're pretty fast," said Yoshi, pulling out his clue.

"We should, too," said Luigi, who'd found his simultaneously with Greenleafprince.

"Can we do Longevity? I really don't want to run a quarter of a mile," said Dot.

"Fine," said Deb, putting the clue in her pocket.

"I think it'd be easier for us to do Longevity as well," said GLP.

"Alright," said c11. The four teams climbed back up the stairs to head to the West Wing.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Sixth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"It's crazy how close we all are. I mean, the four of us groups started this leg in second to fifth place, and now, we're in fifth to eighth," said Vivian.

"I felt bad about being happy that Tippi and Thoreau were behind us. They hadn't even arrived yet. They don't have a chance," said Francesca, smirking.

"Okay, the locker room we're looking for is this way," said Goombaria, nodding in the direction of the East Wing.

"Well, we'd better catch up to them there other teams," said PPAD.

"I use such horrible grammar during this race. It makes me feel like I have some way to bother DP, which, for some reason, makes me happy," said PPAD.

After a short run, they reached the pool. "Excuse me, but do you know where the pool locker room is?" asked Francesca to a random Paratroopa.

"Yeah, lady, it's downstairs," he said.

"Thanks," Francesca replied.

"Not a problem, hot stuff," the Paratroopa said. Hearing this, Frankie rolled up his sleeves…

Let's just say that he lit that Paratroopa up.

"DAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WIT PIANTAS!" shouted Frankie. He kicked the Paratroopa far out of the Gelds Pit.

"Awwwww! That was so sweet! " said Francesca.

"Yeah, I know," said Frankie, beginning to walk downstairs.

"Okay, here's the pool locker room," said DP.

"Do you see the clue box?" asked PPAD.

"Remember those keys?" said DP. PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Frankie, Goombario, and Vivian all held their keys. "They each open a different locker," said DP. "There are nine marked lockers."

"Well, we might as well get started," said Francesca. She took the key from Frankie and walked to the nearest locker. After inserting it, she realized it wasn't her locker. "Nope."

The first team to find the right locker was Vivian and Marilyn. "Okay, sis," said Vivian, "should we do 'Brevity' or 'Longevity'?"

"Guh!" said Marilyn, looking over her clue.

"Okay, come on!" said Vivian.

After a short span of time, Francesca found the next clue. "Okay, I think we should do Brevity."

"Dat sounds good to me!" said Frankie, leading the way out of the locker room.

PrincessPeachAndDaisy found her clue, soon followed by Goombario. "Let's do Brevity!" said DP.

"Yeah, we should do Longevity," said Goombaria.

"Okay," said PPAD and Goombario, simultaneously. "Whoa!" they said, together as well. "This is weird!" they both said. Then they laughed.

"Um, we're almost last, maybe we should go," said Goombaria. She and DonPianta were not very interested in their simul-speak.

"Alright, alright," said PPAD.

**West Wing Track (Brevity)**

"Alright, are all you here ready?" asked the Shy Guy at the start/finish line. Birdo and Luigi nodded. The Shy Guy cleared his throat. "Partners- are you ready?" he shouted at Luigenius and Yoshi, who were waiting at the halfway line.

"Aye-aye!" said Luigenius.

"All systems go!" said Yoshi.

"Ready…" the Shy Guy said. Luigi and Birdo prepared. "GO!" And they were off.

Luigi was pretty fast, and Birdo was close behind, but not quite catching up.

"Come on! You can do it!" shouted Yoshi.

"You got this, dude!" said Luigenius.

**West Wing Field (Longevity)**

Dot, Deb, collete11, and Greenleafprince were standing in that order behind the white beginning line for the long jump.

"Remember, both of you have to get six feet," said a Koopa, standing next to the long jump track.

"I'm not so sure we can do this," said Deb.

"Don't worry sis! We could always, _ugh_, run," said Dot.

"…" said Deb. "I guess we'll do this then." Dot smiled.

"Who wants to go first?" asked the Koopa.

"I guess me!" said c11, confidently.

"Okay," said the Koopa. Dot and Deb moved out of the way.

"Here goes nothing!" c11 shouted, and broke out into a quick sprint, jumping into the sand. "Woo!"

"You did pretty well," said the Koopa.

"As in, I passed the six foot line?" asked c11.

"As in, you got five foot eleven," said the Koopa.

"…" said c11, GLP, Dot, and Deb.

**The 2:55 flight, arriving at 6:52 AM**

"Okay, so, the clue is near here," said Thoreau.

"Like, where is it?" asked Tippi.

"I don't see it anywhere, maybe we should check inside this juice hut," said Thoreau. A few seconds later, he came out with a clue. "Last one," he said.

"It's alright, they can't be too far ahead of us," said Tippi.

"We have to use this key for the next box in the Gelds Pit's pool locker," said Thoreau, holding up the small key.

"Well, let's go then!"

Inside the Gelds Pit, it didn't take long for the Pixls to find out that the lockers were in the East Wing. They floated over the crowds below and down the stairs to find the empty room.

"Wow. You'd think that there'd be some people in here," said Tippi.

"Look! There are nine lockers with race flags," said Thoreau. Floating over to the nearest one, he put the key in the lock. "It's not this one…"

After three more failed attempts, he found the right locker. "Okay," he said, "Detour time. 'Brevity or Longevity?'"

Tippi read the description. "Well, since we can't exactly jump, I suggest we do Brevity."

"Alright," said Thoreau.

**West Wing Track (Brevity)**

Luigi caught up to Luigenius first, and Luigenius began to run- really fast.

"Whoa!" said Luigi and Yoshi simultaneously.

"Okay… your… turn…" said Birdo.

Yoshi took off, even faster than Luigenius. He quickly passed the human, arriving at the finish in time to see the Shadow Sirens, the married Piantas, and two of the FanFiction besties arrive. "Hey!" he said to the arriving six.

"Congrats, Yoshi, here's your next clue," said the Shy Guy. "Birdo!" he shouted. The tired pink dinosaur began to run towards the finish.

Vivian, Marilyn, Frankie, Francesca, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy walked up to the start. "I'll go to the other side," said DP.

"Me too," said Frankie.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"Okay, on your marks… get set… GO!" shouted the Shy Guy. He looked back to see Luigenius arriving. "That was pretty close, but you made it," he said, handing Luigenius the clue. "Luigi!" he shouted, waving the plumber over.

**West Wing Field (Longevity)**

The next one to try was Dot, and she managed to jump six foot four. "Yes! See, Deb, if I, of all people, can do it, then you, of all sisters, can do it, too," she said.

"Okay, Dot, too many commas," said Deb.

"Right…" said Dot.

"Hey, Greenleafprince gets a try before you go, okay?" said the Koopa.

"Alright," said Deb. "Hey! Here comes the Goombas!"

"Hi!" said Goombaria as she and her brother approached the long jump.

"Okay, I'm ready," said GLP. She stood in a very stereotypical pre-run stance, and took off down the track. Her speed was… unimpressive.

"Nice! But you only jumped…" The Koopa fumbled with the tape measure. "You only jumped three feet ten."

"Dang it!"

"Okay, Deb, it's your turn," said the Koopa. Deb ran as well, and she landed at a beautiful seven foot nine.

"You did it sis!" said Dot, hugging Deb. Smiling, Deb received the clue.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

"Okay, it says, 'Make your way back through the Gelds Pit…'" said Yoshi.

_Teams must now exit the Gelds Pit, this time headed towards the center of town. In the center is a large, cylindrical elevator, which teams will use to go down from the current floor (4) to floor 2, where they have to find a small badge shop called Rusty's. There, they'll find their next clue._

"I've never heard of Rusty's Badges," said Luigi.

"I haven't even heard of Geldsburg," said Birdo.

"Well, we'd better hurry," said Luigenius.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

"Can we find this badge shop?" said Dot.

"Yeah, let's just follow the dinos and the Luigis," said Deb.

**West Wing Track (Brevity)**

Vivian, Francesca, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy were now running, and were approaching their partners. The first one to reach the halfway mark was Vivian.

"Okay, you can do this!" she said, breathing deeply. Marilyn took off, but she wasn't as fast as her sister. "Just do as good as you can!"

PrincessPeachAndDaisy reached next, just seconds before Francesca. DonPianta was just a little faster than Frankie, who was quite a bit faster than Marilyn.

"Guh!" said Marilyn, as the two passed her.

"Don't worry! You've got this!" said Vivian.

**West Wing Field (Longevity)**

"Okay, collete11, you can try again," said the Koopa.

"Here goes something, since nothing obviously doesn't work," said c11. She ran off, and leapt with her legs flailing in an attempt to get a few more inches.

"Six feet exactly," said the Koopa. "First, let one of the Goombas go."

"I guess I'll go first," said Goombario. "Boy, I wasn't built to run!" he said to himself before he sprinted across the track. Jumping, he smirked as he realized he hadn't gone very high. Fortunately, his run helped push him forward.

"Five feet, six inches," said the Koopa. "Greenleafprince?"

Greenleafprince cracked her neck and fingers, preparing. She began to go down the track, and the camera showed her run in slow motion. Epic music played as each of her limbs slowly rose and fell, pushing her ever closer to the sand. As she jumped in the air, she shouted a warrior's chant, and landed with both feet in one spot, throwing sand slowly into the air. She cheered, slowly shaking her right arm about in the air. The camera returned to normal speed.

"…" said c11, Goombario, Goombaria, and the Koopa.

"Well, it looks like you got it," the Koopa said. He handed Greenleafprince the clue.

"That was made of awesome," said GLP.

"Okay, we need to get to this badge shop," she said.

**West Wing Track (Brevity)**

"PrincessPeachAndDaisy and DonPianta…" said the Shy Guy, "…four minutes and ten seconds." He handed them a clue. "Frankie and Francesca… four minutes and fourteen seconds." He handed Francesca a clue. "Vivian and Marilyn…" The two sisters grabbed hands. "Four minutes and forty four seconds. Congratulations," the Shy Guy finished, giving the sisters their clue.

"Come on, we have to find this elevator!" said DP, running away from the group.

"Wait up!" said PPAD.

**West Wing Field (Longevity)**

Soon enough, Goombaria had succeeded, and she was waiting through her brother's several failed attempts. "Come on, Barry!" she shouted as her brother tried again.

"Five feet eleven," said the Koopa.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Goombario.

"Just take a short break, you'll build up energy," said Goombaria. Thus, Goombario waited for a minute or so. "Now do this," said Goombaria.

Goombario nodded, and stood at the starting line. He looked at the sand pit, several yards in front of him. After staring for a while, he inhaled and exhaled deeply. He inhaled again, and began to run. He leapt with all of his might, and pounded down.

"Six feet. Right on the mark," said the Koopa. "Here you go."

"Finally!" said Goombaria.

"Come on, we can still catch up!" said Goombario.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

"Okay, when the clue said 'elevator', I thought it would mean 'elevator', not 'gargantuan moving platform," said Luigenius.

"We've obviously severely underestimated the powers of modern technology. And the size of this freaking elevator," said Yoshi.

"Well, there's no way the other teams are gonna have trouble with this," said Birdo. The four entered the elevator, and waited a short span of time for the door to close. It soon reached the 3rd floor, then the 2nd, at which they exited.

"Whoa. This level is even bigger than the top one!" said Luigi.

Yoshi found a small hot dog stand. "Hey, do you know where a badge shop called Rusty's is?" he asked.

"I think it's that way," said the Boo behind the counter, pointing to the left.

"Thanks," said Birdo.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

"Here's the elevator," said Deb.

"But it's not at this floor, it's at… level 1," said Dot, reading the light above the entryway.

"We'll just have to wait," said Deb.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

"There's Dot and Deb!" said GLP.

"They must be waiting for the elevator to open," said c11.

"Well, it must be a really slow elevator," said GLP.

**West Wing Track (Brevity)**

"Are you ready, Thoreau?" shouted the Shy Guy to the distant Pixl, who shouted back an affirmative response. "How about you?" he asked Tippi.

"I'm ready," she said.

"Okay… on your marks… get set… go!" Tippi floated quickly around the track, reaching Thoreau after a little over two minutes.

"That was pretty easy," she said to herself.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

"Look! There's the elevator!" said Francesca.

"We'd better hurry! I think the doors are about to close!" said Vivian. The three teams sped up, but only one made it aboard the elevator before…

"MAXIMUM CAPACITY REACHED."

"What was that?" asked PPAD, inside the elevator.

"NO!" said DP. "It won't let them in!" Indeed, the Piantas and the Sirens were staring at the elevator.

"It's okay!" said PPAD to them. "It'll be back soon!"

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in First**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

"Okay, I don't see a badge shop anywhere near here," said Yoshi, looking around the crowded town.

"That Boo probably had no idea what he was talking about," said Luigenius.

"Ugh, we'll just ask someone else," said Birdo.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Ninth**

Thoreau tore open his newly received clue, and read it aloud. "We need to find this big elevator."

"If it's a big elevator, it can't be too hard to find," said Tippi.

"True. Let's just float on to it," said Thoreau.

"Being able to fly definitely helped us throughout this city. We can float right on over others' heads, passing them if they're too slow," said Thoreau.

"Wow, it's starting to smell in here," said Tippi.

"Glad that we're leaving," said Thoreau.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fourth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fifth**

"Okay, we're at the second floor!" said PPAD. The Piantas managed to get out first, shortly followed by the two pairs of FanFictioners.

"Hey, does anyone know where Rusty's Badge Shop is?" said c11, loudly, hoping someone who knew would hear.

"It's over this way," said DP, seeing a small sign in the distance with a picture of a badge on it. "Or, at least, there's a badge shop this way."

"Well, let's see if it's Rusty's," said Deb.

It took the group a minute to reach the shop, but it was indeed Rusty's.

"Hello there!" said an orange Boo. "I'm Rusty. Would any of you like to buy a badge or two?"

"Um, we're here with the Amazing Race," said Dot. Smiling, Rusty pointed to a door.

"Just go in back there," he said.

"Thanks," said GLP.

"Whoa, what is this?" said c11.

"It's a U-Turn!" said DP. "But the clue doesn't say anywhere that there's a U-Turn."

"I guess that's what you'd call a blind U-Turn," said Dot.

"Well, go ahead," said c11. Dot and Deb stepped on the mat first. They removed both of their pictures.

"Let's not U-Turn anyone," said Deb.

"Sounds good to me," said Dot, pulling a clue out of the adjacent box.

Greenleafprince and collete11 stepped on next, also removing their pictures and choosing not to U-Turn. DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy had other plans.

"I think we should U-Turn Yoshi and Birdo," said PPAD.

"Why?" said DP.

"You saw how they got the Fast Forward and then just took two of the plane spots last leg. They have been playing dirty recently, and I don't like it," said PPAD.

"But I don't think they're both to blame. You've heard Birdo talk; she's determined to pass other teams. I don't want to punish Yoshi for that," said DP. "AND we'll lose any future U-Turn ability."

"What do you think?" said PPAD.

"You're the one who wants to do it. I say we don't," said DP.

After thinking for a minute, PrincessPeachAndDaisy came to her conclusion. "We won't," she said, taking a clue out of the box. DonPianta breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, this clue has two options," said Dot.

"It's a Roadblock or a… um, an Outlet?" said c11. "The Roadblock says, 'Who can crack the code?'"

"Wait… what's an Outlet?" asked GLP.

_A Roadblock is a task that one team member must do. In this Roadblock, teams will make their way to Stroke of Genius Art Store, where they'll find a Koopa wearing a shirt with race flags. This Koopa will give the selected member a paper with a clue, written in code. The code won't be too hard, but it won't be very simple. If they need help, they can ask any of the employees to give them a hint. The employee will help them solve for one of the letters in the code. After solving the code, team members will know where to find a small cube, each side having race flags. Once they return the cube to the Koopa, they'll receive their next clue._

_ An Outlet is a side task one team can choose to do, along with all of a leg's other tasks, in order to receive a game-changing item. In this Outlet, the team will have to go to the upstairs of Rusty's Badge Shop. Rusty's friend and coworker Duncan will be up there to direct them in their task- finding five specific badges. There are over 400 boxes, each with a different badge, so this task could take a long time to complete._

"I think this Outlet idea sounds cool," said c11.

"I don't think we should do it. Let's just get this Roadblock over with," said GLP. "In fact, I think I'll do this one." Reading the description, the two left the building.

"I'll do this Roadblock," said DP.

"Game-changing items? And all we have to do is find a few badges in the storage room!" said Dot.

"Let's do this… Outlet!" said Deb.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

The Goombas had caught up to the Piantas and the Sirens, who sighed with relief when the elevator reached their level.

"Okay, we're getting off at the second level," said Francesca.

"Den we've gotta ask someone if dey know where dis badge place is," said Frankie.

"Guh guh uh guh guh guh guh," said Marilyn.

After a few minutes, the elevator reached floor two. "Where is Rusty's Badge Shop?" thought Goombaria, aloud.

"It's that way," said a random Shy Guy, pointing to a small building with a small, brown sign. It read 'Rusty's'.

"Okay, thanks!" said Goombario, who began to run towards the shop.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

"Look! There're the Goombas!" said Luigi.

"And they're running as though they know where the badge shop is!" said Birdo.

"Let's follow them," said Yoshi. They were quite a ways from the three teams, but could see where they were entering.

"It's that small, brown building," said Luigenius.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Eighth**

"Racers?" asked Rusty once the six had entered. They all nodded, so Rusty pointed to the door to his left. "Surprise," he said.

"What does he mean by that?" asked Francesca. Opening the door, she realized what he meant.

"It's a U-Turn!" said Frankie. He and Francesca stepped on the mat, finding that the U-Turn hadn't been used.

"Did you notice how de dinos took two of de spots from de flight we could have been on?" said Frankie. "And dey already had a Fast Forward!"

"You're right! Let's U-Turn them!" said Francesca. She posted Yoshi and Birdo's picture on 'U-Turned', and then posted the picture of herself and Frankie on 'Courtesy Of'.

"Well, dat oughta teach dem a lesson," said Frankie.

"I guess we can't U-Turn anyone," said Vivian. The three teams all retrieved clues.

"Roadblock- 'Who can crack the code?'" said Goombaria.

"Me!" said Francesca, giggling.

"Me!" said Goombario, slightly mockingly.

"Oy; you don't have to be so blunt," said Francesca.

"I guess that I'll do this one," said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn. The six left the shop, completely ignoring the 'Outlet' card.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"You do know this is gonna throw our place way back?" said Deb.

"Yeah, but if we stay in, this will really help, I guess," said Dot.

"Okay," said Duncan, a yellow Boo. "There are 412 boxes up here. They're small and easy to overlook. But five boxes contain the badges you're looking for. There are five Attack FX badges out there- one red, one blue, one green, one yellow, and one pink. If you find all five, you can choose your special item."

"Well, let's start!" said Dot. After a short while, she got lucky. Or… "I found one!" she said.

"That's a Charge, dolt," said Deb.

"Ugh, it's not like you've…" Dot began. She stopped when she saw Deb hold out an Attack FX B. "Fine."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Seventh**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Eighth**

"And to think, if that idiot had known where this place was, we'd be in first," said Birdo.

"Chill out," said Yoshi.

"Hey! Look! It's a U-Turn!" said Luigi.

"Oh my god," said Luigenius, seeing the board.

"Did you guys get U-Turned?" said Birdo.

"No…" said Luigi.

"YOU did," replied Luigenius.

"First our Fast Forward wasn't helpful, and now, we're U-TURNED?" said Birdo.

"The last caution interaction, the Yield last leg, put Boo and Dry Bones in last place. This is not good for us," said Yoshi.

"Well, Luigi, what do you say YOU do this Roadblock?" said Luigenius. Reluctantly, Luigi agreed.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Ninth**

"Excuse me," said Thoreau to a nearby Koopa.

"Yes?" she said, back.

"Do you happen to know where Rusty's Badge Shop is?" Thoreau finished.

"Yes, of course! It's a short walk in that direction!" The Koopa pointed.

"Thank you!" said Tippi. She and Thoreau floated above the heads of all those walking, and quickly made their way to the shop.

"Oh, it looks like we missed a U-Turn," said Thoreau.

"This clue says we can do a Roadblock- Who can crack the code- or we can try to win a game-changing item," said Tippi.

"We're already near the back, so we'll just do the Roadblock," said Thoreau.

"Solving problems like this is my forte," said Tippi.

**Greenleafprince**

**DonPianta**

"Okay, Greenleafprince, your code is written in numbers. Should be fairly simple," said the Koopa, handing Greenleafprince a paper.

The paper read, '2-5-8-9-14-4 2-12-21-5 16-1-9-14-20 10-1-18-19.' "This must just be the code where the number correlates to the position of the letter in the alphabet. The first letter is 'b', then 'e'…" said GLP. She was thinking out the letters.

"DonPianta, yours might be a bit harder. It's in Greek characters," said the Koopa.

His paper read 'Inside of the large clay vase on the back desk', but it was in Greek characters (of course).

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but I was obsessed with the Greek Alphabet at one time. I totally knew all of the letters," said DP.

"That's easy for me!" said DP. "Inside of the large klay vase on the bakk desk!"

"There isn't really a Greek letter for 'c'. I guess they used kappa, which is 'k'," said DP.

"Cool!" said DP, running towards the back desk.

"Okay, 'behind blue pa…'" said GLP.

DonPianta soon came back, race cube in hand. "Good job on the quick solve!" said the Koopa, handing him a clue. "Don't open that until you meet up with your partner!"

"Excuse me," said GLP, "where are the blue paint jars?"

"They're back there, in the art mediums section," said the Koopa.

"Thanks," said GLP, who walked briskly to the paint.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Eighth**

"And you make four, you tricky little badge," said Dot, throwing the newly found Attack FX Y at Deb.

"Just gotta find the red one," said Deb, opening several boxes.

"I got it! I got it!" shouted Dot. She and her sister quickly made their way back to Duncan, and handed him the five badges.

"Good job, you did it relatively quickly," said Duncan. "Now, you may choose between the following items…

"The Roadblock Rod. You can give this rod to the manager of a Roadblock and get your clue without doing the task.

"The Detour Rod. You can give this rod to the manager of either of a Detour's tasks to get your clue without doing the task.

"The Fast Forward Rod. You can use this to instantly receive information about the pit stop for any leg. This rod does not keep you from using your one allowed Fast Forward per race.

"The Yield Rod. You will be granted protection from being Yielded.

"The U-Turn Rod. You will be granted protection from being U-Turned.

"Last but not least is the most interesting rod- The Crossover Rod. You can pick two teams, who must interchange partners for one leg of the race. The choice is yours," Duncan explained.

"Let's definitely take the Crossover Rod!" said Dot. Deb agreed, and Duncan handed them their desired tool.

"We'll totally use this for next leg, if we're still in," said Deb.

"We've just gotta kick it in gear and make it through this one," said Dot. "Then we can mess with the other teams. On second thought, I feel bad about messing with teams."

"Come on, now who's gonna do this Roadblock?" asked Deb.

"You've done all three of the previous ones, so I guess I'll do this one," said Dot. She read the description. "Oh, cool, it's in an art store!"

"Good luck," said Deb.

**Francesca**

**Goombario**

**Vivian**

"Francesca, your code is in letters, just not the right ones," said the Koopa. He handed her a paper, which read, 'Mppl cfofbui uif qjduvsf gsbnf ejtqmbz.'

"Mpul kuh fof bwee weef qujuduvsef gesbunf ejtqumbz?" said Francesca.

"Goombario, yours is also in letters," said the Koopa. Goombario's code read, 'Hm sgd bzrg qdfhrsdq.'

"That's not familiar," said Goombario.

"Vivian, your clue is in numbers," said the Koopa. Vivian's clue read, '10-21-19-20 20-5-12-12 20-8-5 11-15-15-16-1 '19-16-15-18-11'.'

"Um, this is hard," said Vivian.

"Maybe mine is the one where you put the letter after the one that is meant. Like 'b' really stand for 'a'. That would make sense, so the clue says… Gl rfc ayqf pcegqrcp!" said Goombario.

"I doubt that that's correct," said Francesca. "But maybe that works for mine… Look beneath the picture frame display."

"I'd say that makes a lot of sense," said Vivian. "Mine must be that one that has 1 for 'a', 2 for 'b' and such. That would make this code say… j…u…s…t…t…e…ll…t…h…e… Just tell the! Wait, I'm not done… k…oo…p…a…s…p…o…r…k!"

"So..." said Goombario, not understanding.

"Just tell the Koopa 'spork'!" said Vivian. The Koopa just looked at her. "Um… spork?"

"Good job, here's your next clue," said the Koopa handing Vivian a clue.

"Hey!" said GLP, arriving. "I found my cube!" She handed it to the Koopa, who gave her the clue.

"Don't open that until you're with your partner!" the Koopa said, and Vivian and Greenleafprince left.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

"Okay, where to now?" asked PPAD.

"Unfortunately, more Route Info," said DP. "'Make your way to level 3…'"

_Teams now must ride to the third level of Geldsburg, where they'll easily find a coffee shop called Pokey's Coffee. There, Tumble will be hiding, trying to avoid detection. If the teams notice Tumble and say his name aloud, he will have to give them their next clue. Teams don't know what they'll be doing in the shop, and don't know that Tumble will be there._

"Does it say that our next clue is there?" asked PPAD.

"No, it just tells us to go there," said DP.

"Well, then, let's go," said PPAD.

**West Wing Field (Longevity)**

"Hello, can I help you?" said the Koopa at the long jump.

"We're with the Amazing Race," said Birdo.

"Ah, excellent. You both must jump six feet, alright?" the Koopa said.

Yoshi and Birdo looked at each other and smiled. They lined up next to each other on the line, ran quickly beside each other, and jumped.

"Wow. You jumped eight feet," the Koopa said. Yoshi and Birdo high-fived. 'Here's your clue..."

"No! We were U-Turned, so, we already know where to go," said Birdo.

"Well, I'll give you your 'U-Turned!' badge for verification if there's any mix-up later," said the Koopa, handing Yoshi a small disk.

"Thanks, I guess," Yoshi replied, putting the disk in his pack.

**Goombario**

**Luigi**

Right as Luigi arrived, Goombario had an epiphany. "I just figured it out! It's not one letter _before_, it's one letter _after_!"

"Luigi, here's your code," said the Koopa. Luigi's paper read, 'Look inside of a picture frame', in Greek, of course.

Luigi sighed. "It's all Greek to me."

"It would figure that I'd get a clue in Greek, because… I know nothing about Greek," said Luigi.

"That sucks, but my cube is in the cash pegistep! No… register!" said Goombario. He raced off to the front of the store and soon brought the race flag cube back.

"Here's your clue, don't open it until you're with your partner," said the Koopa.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Third**

"Now we have to go to Pokey's Coffee on the third floor," said c11.

"De clue says dat it shouldn't be too hard to find," said Frankie.

"Well, you know how the elevator works, so we'd better hurry on over," said Francesca.

When they arrived at the elevator, they found it was just beginning to close- with DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy aboard.

"Wait!" said DP. He ran to the closing doors and blocked them with his hand.

"Wow, thanks!" said GLP as she, her partner, and the Piantas stepped aboard.

**Luigi**

Luigi had asked around the store, asking every one of the employees he'd found. Now, he had ' n de ict fr m '

"Let's see, Aook inoide oo a nictupe frame. Wait… that must be a picture frame!" he said.

"That's good," said a female Toad behind a counter, who'd helped him with the most recent letter.

"Maybe it's 'Look inside a picture frame!'" said Luigi. He quickly went over to the picture frame section and searched for his cube.

**Tippi**

**Dot**

About a minute after Tippi entered, Dot came in. Tippi was already trying to decode his message, which read, 'T'is ni a bxo iwht onldge bsoirbn.'

"Dot, here's your coded message," said the Koopa, handing Dot a paper which read, '3-18-1-25-15-14-19'.

"If this is one of those letter/number in order thingy codes," said Dot, "Then the first one is a 'c' and the third one is an 'a'."

"Let's see. 'It's in a box with longed birbons?" Tippi thought.

"C-r-a-y-o-n-s is all it says?" said Dot. She shrugged and walked over to the art supplies section, where she found a huge supply of crayon boxes. "Oh boy."

"A box with delong ribbons! Like, de long ribbons! Or it could be… golden ribbons! Yes! That has to be it!" said Tippi. She went to find boxes adorned with gold.

Dot wasn't the only one having to search through a large inventory- Luigi was scoping through all of the picture frames in a frantic search for his cube. "Why must there be twenty trillion frames in this place?" he said, angrily.

Dot pushed the boxes of crayons around, trying to find the small cube. A yellow and red object caught her eye. "Yes! Here it is!" she said. She rushed the cube back to the Koopa, who gave her the clue. "Good luck Tippi! Good luck Luigi!" she shouted as she left.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fifth**

"I can't believe that they only have one freaking elevator in this town. Do they not realize that this is half the reason there's so much traffic?" said Goombario.

"We've just gotta wait, Barry; it'll get here soon," said Goombaria.

"Look, I think it's on its way back up now," said Vivian, seeing the elevator down at the first level.

"Guh!" agreed Marilyn.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Ninth**

"Roadblock- 'Who can crack the code?'" said Birdo.

"If anyone can crack a code, it's me," said Yoshi.

"You're so smug," said Birdo.

"Look who's talking," laughed Yoshi.

"Just go do this Roadblock before I chop your feet off," said Birdo.

Yoshi arrived at the art store just in time to see Tippi hand one of the cubes described in the clue to the Koopa. "Ah, Yoshi! Here's the last coded message," said the Koopa, handing Yoshi a paper that read, 'Ollp rm z upldvi klg.'

"What is this, gibberese?" said Yoshi.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Third**

The three teams entered Pokey's Coffee, expecting to find a clue box or the pit stop or something.

"Well, I don't see anything," said GLP.

"All that's here is a frick ton of customers," said DP.

"Maybe we should split up and search this place," said Francesca.

"Dat sounds good to me," said Frankie.

After looking around for a short while, DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy noticed a familiar, shady fellow. "Tumble?" asked PPAD. It was, indeed, Tumble, and he handed them their next clue.

"Guys! Over here!" said DP.

"SH! You'll spoil the game for the other teams!" said Tumble. Unfortunately, the Piantas and other FanFictioners had already heard.

"Is that Tumble?" said c11.

"Tumble! It is you!" said Frankie. Sighing, Tumble handed each of them a clue as well.

"'Make your way to the Geldsburg History Museum…'" read Francesca.

_Teams must now find the Geldsburg History Museum, a very large building on level 3 of the city. Once inside, they have to go to the basement level, where they'll find further information._

"This is such a long leg! More route info!" sighed GLP.

"Well, it can't be hard to find a museum, can it?" said PPAD.

**Luigi**

**Yoshi**

"Oh. My. God," said Luigi, tossing aside another box of frames without cubes. "There's gotta be a cube in here somewhere… oh?" he noticed a cross shaped piece of paper, with race flags adorning each of the six little squares it was divided into. This paper was stuck inside a picture frame. Luigi freed the paper, and realized that it folded into the required cube.

Yoshi, through the help of a few employees, soon found out the secret- the letters in the coded message were the opposites of those in the real message. 'A' became 'z', 'b' became 'y', and so on. He was now looking inside of a variety of flower pots, and one that he just so happened to knock over spilled out a pile of dirt… with a cube on top. "Yes!" said Yoshi, as he ran to give it to the Koopa. Luigi was right behind him.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fifth**

After the fiasco of riding the elevator to level three, the four contestants were inside Pokey's Coffee. "This place is kind of neat," said Vivian. "This could be a total hangout spot."

"What exactly are we looking for here?" asked Goombaria.

"I don't know… but doesn't that guy over there with the dark coat and the shades look like Tumble?" said Goombario.

"Guh… guh guh guh?" said Marilyn. She went over to the guy and tapped him on the shoulder.

"It IS Tumble!" said Goombaria.

"Hey Tumble, what're we doing here?" asked Vivian. Without speaking, Tumble handed Vivian and Goombario each a clue.

"Now we've got to go to this museum," said Vivian.

"This is the longest leg ever!" groaned Goombaria.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"Okay, ride the elevator to the third floor to visit Pokey's Coffee and then… that's it," said Deb.

"Um, let's just go and see what's there," said Dot. Unfortunately for the sisters, the elevator had left a while back, so they'd have to wait a few minutes.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Third**

"Whoa!" all six said in unison as they entered.

"This place is so cool!" said c11.

"We definitely should walk around this during our break," said DP.

"I love history now," said GLP.

"As awesome as this place may be, we now need to find a staircase to lead us to the basement. Ah, there's one over there!" said PPAD. She led the pack to the stairs and down.

"Look!" said Frankie. "It's de pit stop!" The three teams ran to the mat.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, you're team number one!" said McBallyHoo.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy: Leg Four: Team One- 8:07 AM**

"Yeah! I knew we'd win eventually!" said PPAD.

"It's funny how the longest leg was really the shortest," said DP.

"In addition, you've both won a four day, three night trip stay in the beautiful Poshley Heights hotel, which you can enjoy after the race!" said McBallyHoo.

"McBallyHoo, thank you so much," said PPAD.

"It was only a matter of time before DP and I made it to first. Watch out, other teams, 'cause here we come," said PPAD.

"I was so excited to hear that we'd won a leg. It gave us new hope," said DP.

"Hey, PPAD, I just came up with the perfect nickname for us!" said DP.

"Which is…?" said PPAD.

"D-Pad!" said DP. "A clever combination of DP and P-Pad!"

"It's PPAD, not P-Pad," said PPAD.

"Chillax your axe, I think DPAD sounds cool," said DP.

"Yeah, I guess it works," said PPAD.

"She's just jealous that she didn't come up with it first," said DP.

"Frankie and Francesca, you're the second team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

**Frankie and Francesca: Leg Four: Team Two- 8:08 AM**

"Yeah! Still in the top ranks!" said Francesca.

"Can you believe we've been in de top four places all de race?" said Frankie.

"I know! It's so great!" said Francesca, hugging her husband.

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, you're team number three," said McBallyHoo.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince: Leg Four: Team Three- 8:08 AM**

"Yes, we're back up!" said c11.

"Thank God, 'cause I like did NOT wanna be in the bottom," said GLP.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"Here's Pokey's Coffee," said Dot.

"There's nothing race-related in here," said Deb.

"But there is a guy totally checking you out!" said Dot. She pointed at a Toad-like creature in shades and a dark trench coat.

"What?" said Deb.

"You should totally go talk to him!" said Dot.

"Um… okay…" said Deb.

"I have no idea why I listened to Dot, but I thought, eh, why not?" said Deb.

"Hi there!" said Deb to the check-outer.

"Omigosh! You're Tumble!" said Dot. Tumble nodded.

"I'm here to give you this," he said. Dot took the clue from his hand.

"Now we have to go inside the Geldsburg History Museum," said Deb. "Sounds really cool!"

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fifth**

"Wow, this place is so cool!" said Goombario.

"I love it here!" said Goombaria.

"There's probably so much cool stuff!" said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"Yeah, right, the basement," said Vivian. Looking for a directory, she instead found a downward stairwell. "Here, follow me," she said.

"Guh!" said Marilyn, excitedly.

"It's the pit stop! Thank you!" said Vivian as she and her sister floated on the mat.

"Vivian and Marilyn, you're team number four," said McBallyHoo.

**Vivian and Marilyn: Leg Four: Team Four- 8:16 AM**

"Guh! Guh guh guh uh uh guh ugh!" said Marilyn.

"Can you believe this leg was only like seven hours long?" said Vivian.

"Goombario and Goombaria, that makes you team number five," said McBallyHoo.

**Goombario and Goombaria: Leg Four: Team Five- 8:17 AM**

"Yay! We're still in!" said Goombaria.

"We'll do better next time, definitely!" said Goombario.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

"Okay, now we need to go to the coffee place on the third floor," said Tippi.

"Well hurry up, the elevator's only here for a limited time," said Thoreau. The two Pixls quickly floated onto the elevator and rode it up to floor 3.

"Look! Tumble's asking the bartender for a double mocha latte!" said Tippi.

"Boy, am I jealous of Tippi's abilities," said Thoreau.

"Tumble!" said Tippi. "What's up!"

"Um, this is for you," said Tumble, handing Tippi a clue.

"Thanks!" said Tippi. "Now we have to go into that big museum we saw earlier. Come on!" Tippi floated away faster than Thoreau could realize.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Ninth**

"Back to the elevator," said Luigi.

"We're going to a coffee place on the third floor," said Yoshi.

"Look! The elevator's here!" said Luigenius.

"We'd better hurry!" The two teams slid on board before the doors shut.

TIME PASSES ABOARD THE EXTREMELY SLOW ELEVATOR… "Here it is, Pokey's Coffee," said Luigi, stepping off behind the other three.

"Yeah, but there's like nothing here," said Birdo.

"Maybe there's a clue box, hidden behind a table, in another story…" suggested Yoshi.

"Okay, we'll look along that side and you look along the other side," said Luigenius, pointing to demonstrate. He and Luigi looked around the left wall, and Yoshi and Birdo looked along the right wall.

"Yoshi, come here!" said Birdo after a short while. She tapped a short man on the shoulder. "Excuse me, is this Tumble?"

Tumble took off his shades. "Geez, I'm horrible at blending in," he said. "Good job; here's your next clue." He handed Birdo a clue.

"Okay, now we have to go to the History Museum," said Birdo. "Come on."

"Aren't we gonna tell them?" said Yoshi.

"I don't wanna be eliminated," said Birdo. She and Yoshi went back to the exit.

Yoshi looked back at Luigi and Luigenius, who were giving him questioning looks. Yoshi pointed to Tumble, unknown by Birdo.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

"Wow! This place is beautiful," said Dot.

"There must be so much stuff here," said Deb.

"How can such a huge building fit into one level of this city?" said Dot.

"Obviously, there's a lot we don't understand about physics," said Deb.

"We'd better hurry; we can still catch up to the others," said Dot, running inside. The Piantas walked along a wall until they could find a stairwell that lead down.

"This is pretty… empty," said Dot.

"Not exactly!" said Deb. She jumped onto the mat first, and her sister soon joined her.

"Dot and Deb, you're team number six," said McBallyHoo.

**Dot and Deb: Leg Four: Team Six- 8:23 AM**

"Oh thank goodness!" said Deb.

"We've still got this in the bag! Doot doot!" said Dot.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

"Hopefully Yoshi, Birdo, Luigi, and Luigenius aren't too close; I would like a chance to be in the upper half," said Thoreau.

"It's alright! We're here, anyway," said Tippi.

"Can you give me some info on this place?" asked Thoreau.

"Yeah… here we go! The Geldsburg Museum of History was constructed in 1978 for the purpose of preserving some of the major artifacts in the Mushroom Kingdom's history. Oh, I also have a hint- there's something in the basement for racers!" said Tippi.

"Well, we already know that it's in a basement," said Thoreau.

"Shut up and go inside," said Tippi.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

"We should get just far enough ahead to stay in the race," said Birdo. "LOOK! THE ELEVATOR'S OPEN! HURRY!"

As fast as the dinos could run, they just missed the elevator. Birdo pounded on the door.

"This sucks!" she said. Looking back, she groaned again. "Here they come."

"Hey," said Luigi.

"Someone's not being very helpful," said Luigenius. Birdo gulped.

"I'd like to thank Yoshi for directing us to the next clue," said Luigi.

"I can't believe you dragged me out of there without helping them," said Yoshi.

"I just wanna win this race! I don't wanna be sent home after we've already made it so far!" shouted Birdo.

"It almost makes me wish that we could have Yoshi on our team and make Birdo do the race on her own," said Luigenius.

"When we started this race, I had no idea that Birdo would be so conniving," said Yoshi. "I guess there's not much I can do now but try to ease hurt feelings."

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

"Hey, it's McBallyHoo!" said Tippi.

"Tippi and Thoreau, over here," said McBallyHoo, pointing to the mat before him.

"OH!" they said, simultaneously. They floated just above the mat.

"Ac-hem… Tippi and Thoreau, you're team number seven."

**Tippi and Thoreau: Leg Four: Team Seven- 8:29 AM**

"Seven! I think that's the best place we've gotten so far," said Thoreau.

"Somehow, sometime during this leg, I felt a new rush of confidence. I feel happier and think Thoreau and I have a better chance than we did in leg one," said Tippi.

"I thought that we'd be stuck in the bottom half for a few legs, and then eventually be in last. But now, I feel as though we can rocket right up to first," said Thoreau.

"We can so do this," said Tippi.

"May I ask what time the first team arrived?" said Thoreau.

"You can," said McBallyHoo.

"…" said Thoreau. "Um, at what time did the first team arrive?"

"A little before 8:10," said McBallyHoo.

"Awesome!" said Tippi.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Ninth**

The rest of the wait for the elevator, along with the ride, was silent for the group. But, they had to put their angers aside and accomplish their sole goal- pass the other team and stay in the race.

"Where're we going in this place?" said Luigenius, eventually.

"The basement. Come on," said Luigi.

Their troubles were quickly forgotten as soon as they entered the museum. "No way!" said Luigenius.

"This is amazing!" said Yoshi.

"It's so huge!" said Birdo.

"I think I see a directory," said Luigi. Checking the directory, he began to walk toward a downward stairwell.

"Hey!" said Birdo, running to compensate.

Once both teams made it downstairs, they saw the pit stop. Leaping to reach the mat, one team made it first.

"Yoshi and Birdo, you're team number eight," said McBallyHoo.

**Yoshi and Birdo: Leg Four: Team Eight- 8:40 AM**

"Oh, man," said Yoshi.

"The only leg we've done well in is the one in which we got a Fast Forward," said Birdo.

"If that Boo had known where Rusty's badge shop was, Birdo and I could have done a lot better," said Yoshi.

Grim looks were cast on the last team's faces.

"Luigi and Luigenius, you're the last team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

**Luigi and Luigenius: Leg Four: Team Nine- 8:40 AM**

"Oh man…" said Luigenius.

"Not to worry," said Luigi.

"This is the first of three non-elimination legs. The punishments for this non-elimination are not as harsh as those that follow. This time, you only have to give me all the money you have. You'll still receive coins for the next leg," McBallyHoo explained.

"Oh, thank you!" said Luigi.

"We were pretty close," said Luigenius.

"We've got to catch up the next leg, because it's probably not non-elimination. I thank the stars that we're still in, and we're not going to take our second chance for granted," said Luigi.

"Thank you for joining us on this leg of the Amazing Race. We'll see you next time!" said McBallyHoo.


	6. Leg 5: Everyone Else was Doing It

Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

Note 2: If you want to check out PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Luigenius, or Greenleafprince, just look them up as they are. If you're looking for collete11, search for NaraTemari011.

Note 3: In the first leg, I mentioned that the teams had to find the famous author Pennington to get their next clue. After a bit of research, I've discovered that the actual name of the author in Shiver City is Herringway… fail.

Note 4: I've noticed mid-leg that on Greenleafprince's profile, the true gender of the racer is female… and this whole time I thought she was a guy (based on the name)… I'm so sorry, GLP! So I'm editing all the previous and future chapters.

* * *

The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

Leg Five: Everyone Else was Doing It

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to the Amazing Race!" said Tumble. The Amazing Race theme song played.

"Last time on the race, the nine teams traveled to the huge, flying city of Geldsburg," said McBallyHoo.

"In this multi-leveled city, teams had to do physical challenges in a gym and explore a lot of the city," said Tumble.

"It was there that the Race had its first U-Turn," said McBallyHoo. "Due to hard feelings, Frankie and Francesca U-Turned Yoshi and Birdo, pulling the dinos from the front to the back of the pack."

"The other first in the previous leg was a side quest known as an Outlet. In this Outlet, Dot and Deb searched through boxes of badges in order to win a race-changing item," said Tumble. "They selected a Crossover Rod, which can switch up two teams' partnerships. Dot and Deb declined to use the rod this leg."

"Tensions rose against Yoshi and Birdo, due to connivances of the latter member against other teams," said McBallyHoo.

"Last leg ended in a non-elimination leg, a great relief for last place team Luigi and Luigenius. Will the two recover from their drop? Will Birdo continue to bring her team down? And who will be the next team to be eliminated?" said Tumble.

"The first team to arrive, at 8:07 AM, was DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy. The will depart at 8:07 PM," said McBallyHoo

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

"Alright, it's 8:07… now!" said PPAD.

"It says, 'Catch a plane to Mario Circuit City…'" read DP.

_Teams now have to fly 849 miles to Mario Circuit City, the central hub of the Circuit Region, which is filled with every racetrack on which Mario Kart players race. Once there, they will have to head to Mario Circuit, where they'll be given their clue by a Lakitu employee._

"Looks like we're heading into the racy part of the Mushroom World!" said PPAD.

"God, that was a horrible pun," said DP. "Um… we have 64 coins for this leg."

"Let's just get back up to the airport," said PPAD.

They arrived at the elevator, which was currently on another floor. "Eh, we have to wait," said DP.

"Oh my god, we have to wait all of sixty seconds!" said PPAD.

"Frankie and Francesca and collete11 and Greenleafprince, the second and third teams to arrive, will both depart at 8:08 PM," said McBallyHoo.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Second**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Third**

"It says we need to catch a plane to Mario Circuit City," said c11.

"Ooh! I think that's the Mario Kart place, isn't it?" said Francesca.

"Yeah, it sure is," said Frankie.

"How many coins do we get?" asked c11 to herself, counting out the change. "Ah, we have 64 coins."

"Well, we'd better run; you know how that elevator is," said GLP.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Second**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Third**

"Here it comes," said DP.

"There are a lot of people still here for such a late time," said c11.

"Dude, it's like 8:00 PM. It's not that late," said GLP.

"I'M NOT A DUDE! I AM A FEMALE!" blared c11, knocking the other five over. "Oh, sorry…"

"Quickly regain your posture and step aboard before it leaves," said Francesca.

"I don't think I can recover that quickly," said DP.

"Well, that sucks, because the elevator's getting ready to close…" said PPAD. She heard several **WHOOSH**es. Looking around, she saw the other five had already entered the now-closing elevator. "Wait up!" she said, running aboard.

After a few minutes, the elevator reached to top level. "And there is the airport, right on ovah they-uh," said GLP in Neil Diamond voice.

"Well then get your butt over they-uh," said c11. Once they entered the airport, traffic had significantly decreased.

"Excuse me," said Francesca, to a Goomba at the counter for Mushroom International, "when's the next flight to Mario Circuit City?"

"Our next flight through Toad Town leaves at 9:45 tonight," said the Goomba.

"Do any airlines have any flights dat get dere before dis one?" asked Frankie.

"No; this is your best bet," said the Goomba.

"Okay, we'll take two tickets," said Francesca.

"We will, too," said PPAD.

"So will we," said GLP.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Departing at 8:16 PM**

"Where to now?" asked Vivian.

Marilyn read over the clue. "Guh guh guh guh Ughguhguh Guhuhuhugh Guhguh," she said.

"Sounds cool! I've always wanted to see the kart races!" said Vivian. She and Marilyn exited the museum.

"Departing at 8:17 are Goombario and Goombaria," said Tumble.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fifth**

"Okay, now we've gotta fly to Mario Circuit City," Goombaria read.

"Don't they have copyright issues?" asked Goombario.

"?" said Goombaria.

"…Never mind."

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fourth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fifth**

"Come on, guys, it's here!" said Vivian, waving at the Goombas.

"You'd think it would be less crowded at 8:00 then it is at 6:00 AM," said Goombaria.

"Well, not really," said Goombario.

"I've noticed that the legs are getting kind of… short," said Goombaria. "I hope we get to do something a little bit more fun than a ten minute task like long jumping."

"The airport's just south of here," said Goombario, stepping off the elevator last. The four walked to the elevator, not wishing to pointlessly waste energy.

"Hi," said Vivian to the Mushroom International Goomba, "when's the flight that arrives at Mario Circuit City first?"

"Our 9:45 flight should get to the city first," said the Goomba.

"Okay, then all four of us want tickets," said Goombaria.

"Not a problem." The Goomba printed four tickets, and handed them to the happy receivers. "You're pretty lucky; you got the last four."

"I don't think we have to worry about elimination this leg," said Vivian. 

**Dot and Deb, Departing at 8:23 PM**

"Okay, now we get to fly to Mario Circuit City! We get to visit the famous Mario Circuit!" said Deb. "We have 64 more coins, so that brings us to 120-somehthing."

"Doot doot! That's so cool!" said Dot.

"Come on; hopefully the elevator's ready."

Unfortunately, it wasn't. In fact, it closed seconds before Dot and Deb reached it.

"Shoot!" said Dot.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Departing at 8:29 PM**

"We'd better hurry on over to that elevator. Dot and Deb have been waiting for a while; it must be about to arrive," said Thoreau.

"Then let us float above the huddled masses," said Tippi. Rising above the heads of all visitors and citizens of Geldsburg's third level, they floated to right on into the open elevator.

"Look! The Pixls already caught up!" said Deb.

"It's alright, we're still ahead of the other two teams," Dot replied.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

The elevator was on its way down and then up, so the four arrived at the third level after about nine minutes.

"I hope that they haven't started yet," said Thoreau.

"No, they've still got one minute," said Tippi.

**Yoshi and Birdo/ Luigi and Luigenius, Departing at 8:40 PM**

"Alright, we'd better hurry to that elevator," said Yoshi.

When the four reached the elevator, they could see Tippi and Thoreau inside. The doors were shut, and it was already rising.

"Frick!" said Luigenius.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Sixth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

The Piantas and Pixls kind of hung around each other as they speed-walked to the airport.

"Excuse me, which airline has the first flight to Mario Circuit City?" asked Tippi.

"Let's see… ah! Here it is. It's a POW Air flight, direct, leaving at 10:25," said a Goomba.

"We'll take two!" said Dot.

"We will as well," said Thoreau.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Eighth**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Ninth (Last)**

"How long has it been since we got here?" asked Luigi.

Luigenius glanced down at his watch. "Three, four minutes?" Luigi let out an exasperated sigh.

"It's never going to get here!" said Yoshi. As soon as this was spoken, the door opened.

"How did we not notice that until now?" said Birdo. Shrugging, Yoshi stepped on board, followed by the other three.

The elevator headed directly to the fourth level, so the four could quickly find the airport. Yoshi walked up to a Goomba, standing at a Mushroom International desk.

"Hi, how can I help you?" said the Goomba.

"Can you get us two… four tickets on the quickest plane to Mario Circuit City?" asked Yoshi.

"Sorry; you'll have to go to the POW Air counter for that," the Goomba replied.

"Not a problem," said the Boo at POW Air. "Here you go! Now your plane leaves at 10:25 in terminal 6, okay?"

"Thank you," said Luigi.

_On the 9:45 Mushroom International Flight through Toad Town are married couple Frankie and Francesca, friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, friends collete11 and Greenleafprince, sisters Vivian and Marilyn, and siblings Goombario and Goombaria._

_On the 10:25 POW Air flight are sisters Dot and Deb, friends Tippi and Thoreau, dating couple Yoshi and Birdo, and friends Luigi and Luigenius._

**The 10:25 flight, arriving in Mario Circuit City at 8:26 AM**

"This is quite possibly the largest city I've been in," said Dot.

"Well, where to now?" asked Thoreau.

"We have to find Mario Circuit, which is more than likely the biggest attraction in the city," said Tippi.

"Well, let us run epically outside to get a taxi," said Luigenius.

Eventually, four taxis had come to cart the teams off to Mario Circuit.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"I found it odd that Yoshi and Birdo let us get in the taxi before them," said Tippi. "Well, there was another one right behind ours, and they got that."

"What really surprised me is that Birdo is the one that let us all get into taxis before her and Yoshi," said Luigenius.

The drive to Mario Circuit was only about five minutes, so the four teams all arrived at around the same time.

"You know, I've been slowly realizing what jet lag is," said Dot.

"Well, if we're lucky, we'll be feeling a lot more of it," said Deb. They'd eventually made it all the way around to the front gates of the race track.

"Closed for repair?" all eight said, simultaneously.

"How are we supposed to do this then?" asked Luigi.

"Wait, look," said Yoshi, pointing at some fine print on the sign. "It says, 'Authorized personnel and competitors on the Amazing Race only'!"

"Well, we'd better find a way in!" said Dot. Deb pushed the gate open. "I guess that works."

The four teams slowly stepped inside, looking around. "We have to find a Lakitu," said Luigenius, looking over the clue again.

"Racers?" said a voice far to the right of the eight. They looked over and saw a Lakitu in a black vest.

"Yeah, are you the guy we're looking for?" asked Birdo. The Lakitu nodded.

"Okay, here's the scoop. This is a large, empty Mario Kart track, right?" said the Lakitu. "Scattered about this course are about twenty item boxes. They're not where one usually finds them; they're not even in groups.

"Inside the item boxes are one of four items- mushrooms, green shells, red shells, and fake item boxes. You need to collect ten mushrooms to get your next clue. For every green shell you receive, you'll have to wait thirty seconds before I give you your clue. For every red shell you get, you have to wait one minute.

"If you get a fake item box, you can plant it anywhere you want. If anyone breaks it, three red shells will come out. Just don't break your own fake boxes. The boxes will take about ten seconds to regenerate, but you can't just stay in one spot and break the same box over and over. If you break any box more than three times, you'll be given three red shells. Good luck." Armed with the lengthy knowledge, the four teams set out to get some mushrooms.

AFTER A SHORT WHILE ON THE COURSE…

"I hate this game!" said Birdo. Breaking open a new box, she received a nice red shell.

**Yoshi and Birdo- Mushrooms: 4 Green Shells: 4 Red Shells: 7**

**Luigi and Luigenius- Mushrooms: 5 Green Shells: 1 Red Shells: 3**

**Dot and Deb- Mushrooms: 8 Green Shells: 2 Red Shells: 1**

**Tippi and Thoreau- Mushrooms: 6 Green Shells: 4 Red Shells: 5**

"You'd think that there'd be more green shells than red," said Luigenius, searching around pipes and flowers for an item box.

"When that guy said item boxes, I assumed he meant those big, shiny, colorful boxes like you hit with the carts. I didn't realize he meant one-inch, red cubes," said Luigenius.

"Oh frick on a stick!" shouted Dot. She'd just planted a fake box and tripped right into it.

Deb couldn't help but laugh. "You're such a klutz, girl!" she shouted from several yards away. Not watching where she was going, she walked right into a pipe. "OOF!" she said, falling into a sitting position.

"I'M such a klutz, totally," said Dot.

"We barely have any shells, really," said Luigi.

"That's because Yoshi and Birdo keep getting 'em," said Luigenius.

"That's not funny," said Yoshi. He was looking for a new box, as the one he had broken twice seemed to dislike him. Soon, he'd found one- inside of a pipe.

"You're really gonna try to break that from all the way down here?" asked Tippi, floating by.

"No, I'm gonna climb up the pipe and break it from there," said Yoshi.

The problem for Yoshi wasn't climbing the pipe, it was balance. "Oh no, I'm totally gonna fall off!" he said, struggling to reach for the small red box inside. "ACH!" he shouted, falling into the pipe.

Way on the opposite side of the course, Birdo and Thoreau had found two new boxes. They worked for them, giving each one mushroom, one green shell, and one fake item box. (Okay, they didn't really work all that well.) "What is that noise?" asked Thoreau, hearing something.

"It's coming from this pipe," said Birdo, pointing to a nearby tube. Up the pipe came a shouting, shocked Yoshi.

"Holy crap!" he said, panting.

"Are you alright?" asked Thoreau.

"No!" Yoshi shouted. "That dang box gave me a red shell!"

**The 9:45 flight, arriving at 8:44 AM**

"TAXI!" shouted Frankie, catching the attention of four nearby taxis- and the other nine who stood by him. They stared at him, eyes wide and mouths agape.

"Wow," said DP.

"…" said c11.

"You can have the first one," said Goombario. Shrugging, the Piantas accepted it.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Seventh**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Ninth**

"Look! The other teams are already here!" said Vivian.

"This sucks majorly," said PPAD.

"How did they beat us? Our flight left over a half an hour earlier!" said c11.

"When we found out that the other teams were ahead of us, my blood pressure definitely raised a few points," said GLP.

"Okay, now I might start to worry about elimination. Nothing major, but I'll worry a little bit," said Vivian.

"Well, let's just get this over with," said Francesca, walking over to the Lakitu in charge of the ordeal.

"You must be the other five teams still in the race," said the Lakitu. They all nodded. "Okay, here are the rules…" He gave the same verbose description as he had before. "Alright, go ahead," he finally said.

**Yoshi and Birdo- Mushrooms: 6 Green Shells: 3 Red Shells: 8**

**Luigi and Luigenius- Mushrooms: 7 Green Shells: 3 Red Shells: 3**

**Dot and Deb- Mushrooms: 9 Green Shells: 3 Red Shells: 4**

**Tippi and Thoreau- Mushrooms: 7 Green Shells: 5 Red Shells: 5**

"Ugh! All I keep getting are these fake item boxes!" said Tippi, throwing his third box into a hole in the ground.

"Chill; there are a LOT of these things," said Luigenius. "Look. I just got a fake item box. This next one… is one as well."

"If there's one thing I knew, it was that I was going to see a lot of fake item bricks," said Thoreau.

"Hey, the other five teams are here!" said Birdo, looking to the gate.

"Yeah! I just got two mushrooms!" said Deb.

"Okay! But we still have to wait like five minutes," said Dot. The two walked to the gate and handed the Lakitu their seven shells.

"You guys have to wait five minutes and thirty seconds for your clue," said the Lakitu. He had set up nine stopwatches, and set the Piantas up for 5:30.

Soon, Luigi and Luigenius came as well. "All ten mushrooms, four green shells and four red shells. That's six minutes for you."

**Frankie and Francesca- Mushrooms: 2 Green Shells: 4 Red Shells: 3**

**Vivian and Marilyn- Mushrooms: 4 Green Shells: 2 Red Shells: 4**

**Goombario and Goombaria- Mushrooms: 3 Green Shells: 4 Red Shells: 2**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- Mushrooms: 5 Green Shells: 1 Red Shells: 6**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- Mushrooms: 3 Green Shells: 5 Red Shells: 4**

"I didn't know it was possible to get this many red shells in ten minutes," said PPAD, sighing as she added another to her collection.

"You keep getting red shells?" said Vivian. "All I've been lucky enough to receive are these cheap fake item boxes!" She put her third fake box into a cluster with several others she got.

"You shouldn't put those all in one place. If you accidentally bump into them, you'll get like twenty red shells," said PPAD.

"I'm not gonna bump into them," said Vivian. She went off to find a new box.

"Well I sure as hell am NOT going to go near them," said PPAD, walking around them at a constant distance of ten feet.

The next team to go to the Lakitu was Yoshi and Birdo. "Alright," the Lakitu said. "You've got five green shells and nine red. That's eleven minutes and thirty seconds."

"God, that's harsh," said Luigenius.

"I think this challenge is trying to space us apart, splitting any alliances," said Luigi. "It's definitely working."

"Hmm… we seem to have run out of boxes," said Tippi.

"I've used up all those, and you've used up all these…" said Thoreau.

"What do we do now?" asked Tippi.

"I guess I see if I can break the ones you've maxed out on," said Thoreau. He floated over to the nearest block that Tippi used and slapped down on it. Out came a green shell.

"That seems to be working," said Tippi.

**Dot and Deb- 3:22 remaining**

**Luigi and Luigenius- 4:19 remaining**

**Yoshi and Birdo- 9:46 remaining**

**Tippi and Thoreau- Mushrooms: 8 Green Shells: 7 Red Shells: 5**

**Frankie and Francesca- Mushrooms: 5 Green Shells: 6 Red Shells: 3**

**Vivian and Marilyn- Mushrooms: 6 Green Shells: 5 Red Shells: 5**

**Goombario and Goombaria- Mushrooms: 7 Green Shells: 6 Red Shells: 3**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- Mushrooms: 8 Green Shells: 3 Red Shells: 7**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- Mushrooms: 6 Green Shells: 6 Red Shells: 5**

"This is actually a bit… boring," said Goombaria, waiting for her box to reappear.

"I guess the point of this is to just de-group us," said Vivian. "It's a pretty clever idea, but the time penalties are pretty extreme for the number of shells we're getting."

"Any chance to rest on this race is okay with me," said Goombaria.

"You know what's weird?" said Tippi. "The other five teams seem to be getting a lot more mushrooms a lot faster."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," said Thoreau. "It's not fair."

"This is a game of chance, and we just have a higher chance," said c11.

"Whatever," said Thoreau, slapping down on a new box. "Hey! Tippi! I got our last mushroom!"

"Good, I grew bored of this!" said Tippi. They floated to the Lakitu.

"Eight green and six red… ten minutes," he said, setting their time.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

"Ours is almost up!" said Dot. The Lakitu floated over and looked down at the girls' stopwatch. Indeed, it was soon to hit zero. The stopwatch eventually beeped.

"Alright, here you go!" said the Lakitu, handing Deb a white packet.

Opening it, Deb saw two cards- one blue and one green. "Fast Forward, totally unnecessary," she said. "Okay. 'Make your way to the course known as Mushroom Gorge'…"

_Teams now have to take a bus or taxi to the track Mushroom Gorge, about thirty miles from Mario Circuit. Once there, they have to drive one of the nine karts until they reach a cave. At the cave entrance, they'll find their next clue._

"Alright, Dot, it looks like we actually get to drive!" said Deb.

"Are you serious?" said Dot.

"Yeah, but only for a short time on this Mushroom Gorge course," said Deb.

"Any driving is nice," said Dot.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

"You guys can now have your clue," said the Lakitu, handing it to Luigi.

"What've we got this time?" asked Luigenius.

"I think we can pass on the Fast Forward, so… we're going to Mushroom Gorge," Luigi said. "We'd better get a taxi."

**Yoshi and Birdo- 5:30 remaining**

**Tippi and Thoreau- 9:24 remaining**

**Frankie and Francesca- Mushrooms: 6 Green Shells: 7 Red Shells: 3**

**Vivian and Marilyn- Mushrooms: 8 Green Shells: 5 Red Shells: 6**

**Goombario and Goombaria- Mushrooms: 9 Green Shells: 6 Red Shells: 5**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- Mushrooms: 9 Green Shells: 5 Red Shells: 8**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- Mushrooms: 7 Green Shells: 8 Red Shells: 6**

"Call me crazy, but I think that this activity sucks," said DP.

"NO! REALLY?" said PPAD, overly sarcastically.

"Oh yes, really," said DP. Breaking the nearest item box, he sighed as he tossed the fake box he received over the fence of the track. "Boring!"

"I'm not really sure what was intended by making us do this," said c11. "I think they want to bog us down with penalty time."

"Barry! I got a mushroom!" shouted Goombaria, excitedly.

"Yes!" The two raced back to the Lakitu, who set them up for their wait period of eight minutes.

"Oh dear… we just haven't been having the best of luck in finding these mushrooms," said Francesca, taking a green shell.

"Dat's alright, cherry blossom. We can still get t'rough dis," said Frankie. "See? I got us two more 'shrooms!"

"Oh, okay ," said Francesca.

"And you make eight," said c11, inwardly.

"Wow, there are a lot of item boxes there," said GLP.

"Be careful! Those are probably all fake," said Vivian.

"Yeah, I think I'll stay away from them," said GLP. Looking down at her shoes, she saw that the laces had come undone. "Oh shoot!" She was about to tie them when she tripped- right into the cluster of fake boxes.

"I felt really bad then, because I'd but all those boxes there," said Vivian.

"Oh my god…" said GLP, as eighteen red shells appeared.

"Do not tell me you just got us eighteen red shells!" said c11. "Oh my god!"

"This severely sucks. Apparently we have to wait forever," said c11.

"I'm so sorry!" said Vivian.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know I'd collapse into this… herd," said GLP.

"…I'm still really sorry," said Vivian.

"It's okay. Now hurry; you have mushrooms to find."

"Ah-hah! Here you are!" said DP, holding up the duo's tenth 'shroom. "Now, let us go pay the penalty." Upon arrival, with six green and nine red shells, they discovered they'd have to wait twelve minutes.

"It'll be nice to sit," said PPAD.

"Even though all we've done today is ride a plane for several hours and ride a taxi and walk around for maybe twenty minutes," said DP.

"Oh, shut up!" PPAD shoved her partner.

"PPAD is crazy," said DP.

"I am not!" said PPAD.

"If you weren't crazy, you'd be earning ten trillion dollars as a doctor instead of hoping to get a million in this race, with ME of all people," said DP.

"True; I don't know what got into me that thought it was a good idea to race with _you_," said PPAD.

"Our time is almost up," said Birdo. As soon as the stopwatch beeped, she took the clue held in the extended hand of the Lakitu. "Thanks."

"Where to now?" asked Yoshi.

"Mushroom Gorge," said Birdo.

"It's kind of nice to visit some places we're familiar with, but it's also cool to see the new places," said Birdo.

"I'm hoping that we get to do something really cool in Mushroom Gorge, like bungee-jumping or something," said Yoshi.

The next team to come in was Frankie and Francesca, harboring only eight green shells and four red.

"You guys have to wait eight minutes," said the Lakitu.

**Goombario and Goombaria- 7:13 remaining**

**Tippi and Thoreau- 7:55 remaining**

**Frankie and Francesca- 8:00 remaining**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 11:29 remaining**

**Vivian and Marilyn- Mushrooms: 9 Green Shells: 6 Red Shells: 6**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- Mushrooms: 8 Green Shells: 9 Red Shells: 25**

"This is going to be a long wait," said c11, pulling out the last two mushrooms from the opened item boxes that lay before her. She and Greenleafprince solemnly walked to the Lakitu to hand in their items. All 44 of them.

"As you know, this'll be a twenty nine minute and thirty second wait," said the Lakitu.

"We might as well start sometime," said GLP.

"GUH! Guh guh guh!" said Marilyn.

"YES! You rock!" said Vivian. She and Marilyn sped over to the Lakitu, who told them of their nine minute penalty.

TIME PASSES…

**Goombario and Goombaria- 0:13 remaining**

**Tippi and Thoreau- 0:55 remaining**

**Frankie and Francesca- 1:00 remaining**

**Vivian and Marilyn- 2:00 remaining**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 3:29 remaining**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- 17:44 remaining**

"Okay, it looks like your clue will be the next one," said the Lakitu.

"Yeah, only ten…" said Goombario.

"Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" said Goombaria. A beep played, long enough for Goombaria to cast a smile upon the other teams as she took the clue. "Okay," she read, "it says we've gotta take a taxi to Mushroom Gorge."

"Sounds good to me!" said Goombario, running to the curb to signal a taxi.

"You're up as well," said the Lakitu, hearing another tone. He handed Thoreau the clue.

"Mushroom Gorge. I guess we just follow them," said Thoreau, pointing to the Goombas.

"Alright," said Tippi.

"And you are ready for your clue as well," said the Lakitu. Francesca thanked him as she took it.

"You heard where we're going!" she said.

"Look, it's a Fast Forward," said Frankie.

"I don't think we have much to worry about," said Francesca.

"Yeah. Let's just get to dis Mushroom Gorge."

ONE MINUTE LATER…

"Okay, Marilyn, we've got to go to the Mushroom Gorge track," said Vivian.

"Guh? Guh guh guh uh uh ugh guh?" asked Marilyn.

"I don't really know how they do that," said Vivian.

"And now, we raise one of life's greatest mysteries: How do the karts get onto those pristine, closed courses?" asked Vivian.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in First**

"Excuse me, why are you slowing down?" asked Deb.

"I don't know. I'm not doing it! Oh boy…" said the driver.

"That can't be good," said Dot.

"My 'check battery' light is on. I can't believe I didn't notice it until now! I'm so sorry," said the driver.

"It's okay. It's not your fault," said Deb.

"I guess we just wait until another taxi comes by," said Dot. She looked back at the empty road to Mushroom Gorge, but apparently it wasn't an often visited course.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Second**

Watching the absence of cars on the road to Mushroom Gorge, Luigi saw something to his right. "What's that?" he asked.

"Looks like some other taxi broke down. It's not part of my company, though," said the driver, a slightly jerk-ish Shy Guy.

"…" said Luigi and Luigenius as the Shy Guy drove right past the broken down taxi.

"Who was that on it?" asked Luigenius.

"I couldn't tell," Luigi replied.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 0:08 remaining**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- 14:23 remaining**

"Well, see you later," said DP.

"See ya," said c11.

"Good luck!" said PPAD.

"It's alright, we can recover from this. Fourteen minutes? No big deal," said GLP, smiling.

"Okay," said DP, accepting the next clue.

"Ooh… a Fast Forward," said PPAD. "Which we should totally use."

"Or totally not. This clue says we're going to Mushroom Gorge, which happens to be my favorite course in Mario Kart Wii!" said DP.

"Guys, this is the Mushroom Kingdom. Stop breaking the fourth wall!" said c11.

"Oh. Sorry," said DP. Uncomfortable, he and PrincessPeachAndDaisy exited the arena.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Third**

"Yoshi, look at this!" said Birdo.

"What? Oh," said Yoshi, leaning over to see out the right window.

"That's Dot and Deb!" said Birdo. "Their taxi must have broken down."

"That's horrible!" said Yoshi. "Excuse me, can you please stop for a little bit?" he asked the driver.

"We'll be right back," said Birdo, exiting the taxi.

"Hey," said Yoshi.

"Hi! We're so glad to see you; another taxi earlier just drove right on by," said Dot.

"Who was in it?" asked Birdo.

"I don't know, but my best bet is Luigi and Luigenius," said Dot.

"Maybe they just couldn't see you," said Yoshi.

"Yeah, I think so," said Dot.

"Well, there's plenty of room in our taxi," said Birdo. As soon as Dot and Deb accepted, they realized that there was NOT plenty of room.

"Geh mmf my ffafce!" said Deb, smashed against the left hand window.

"Sorry," said Yoshi, rotating his head so his nose wouldn't flatten her.

"This plaff thuchs!" said Dot, now smashed.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Alright, you two, we're almost to your track," said the Shy Guy.

"Um, thanks," said Luigenius.

"How much is this gonna cost us?" asked Luigi.

"Eh, just 25 coins, alright? Alright," the Shy Guy said, extending his hand as he parked on the road.

"Are you gonna go to the track?" asked Luigenius.

"It's a closed course. This is as close as I can get," the Shy Guy said. "Now hurry up; this ain't free." Sighing, Luigi pulled out the coinage. "Thank you and goodbye."

They ran out of the taxi and towards the track, which was about a quarter of a mile to the right of the road where the Shy Guy had parked the taxi. "We're getting there," said Luigi. "Just a little bit further."

"Does it say where on the course we're supposed to find the clue?" asked Luigenius.

"Yeah, it says at the cave entrance," Luigi said, glancing over the clue. It took them about three minutes to reach the course and find where the cave was. As they reached where the starting line for races was, they saw something.

"Look at this!" said Luigenius, smiling. "They're awesome!" He ran up to the kart that had his and Luigi's names inscribed on the inside seats.

"That's weird, it says that you sit in the driver's seat," said Luigi.

"Yeah, that's 'cause _I _get to drive," said Luigenius, jumping into his seat.

"Whatever."

The driving was not as fun as Luigenius thought. "Oh god, there're gaps!" he said, panting.

"Just run over the rainbow thing. You'll leap and land on the mushrooms, which will bounce you across the gap!" said Luigi.

"They don't pay me enough to do this," said Luigenius to himself. Closing his eyes, he leapt onto the mushroom. "GAH!" he shouted as the mushroom pushed him ahead, onto the next section of ground. "Oh my god! That was so cool!"

"Yeah, it was," said Luigi.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Second**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

Yoshi and Birdo slid out of the taxi before Dot and Deb. "Come on, you two, it's this way!" said Yoshi, signaling to the right of the road. Dot and Deb closely followed them as they approached the track.

After a few minutes, they feasted their eyes on the karts.

"I thought that the coolest thing was that they personalized them!" said Birdo. "Yoshi's and mine had like red and green eggs and stuff on it!"

"This is so cool!" squealed Dot as she slid into the passenger's seat.

"Doot doot!" said Deb, turning the kart on. "I'm not familiar with this, unfortunately."

"Just do what they do!" said Dot, pointing at the departing dinos.

"Oh, look at that. Birdo's driving," said Deb, shaking her head.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Here it is! This is the cave," said Luigenius, parking. "Quickly! Get one!"

"Alright, we've got a Roadblock again! 'Who likes spelunking?'" Luigi read.

_A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can do. In this task, team members will have to enter the cave and climb down several flights of steps near the entryway to find a Koopa with harnesses. The Koopa, along with one of his friends at the top of the cave, will hook the team members up to the harness. Team members will have to jump and fly over to enter several different mini-caves, in search of five precious gems. They must bring ten of each kind of crystal back, and then, they'll receive their next clue._

"It looks like a cave exploring task. I think I'll do it," said Luigenius. He read the task description. "Oh. My. God. This is going to be so cool!" He excitedly ran inside.

He saw the Koopa that was at the upper level of the cave and waved. The Koopa, waving back, directed him to the stairwell. Luigenius quickly began to make his way down the stairs. "There are a LOT of stairs."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Second**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

"Hey, Luigi!" said Yoshi, smiling as he exited the kart. He retrieved two clues and tossed one at Deb, who reached one hand into the air and caught it.

"Roadblock! 'Who likes spelunking?'" read Deb.

"I might as well do this one, too," said Dot. She began reading.

"I guess I'll try this spelunking," said Yoshi.

"No way!" said Yoshi and Dot, simultaneously.

"This is not just spelunking!" said Dot.

"What is it?" asked Deb.

"We get to search through caves for gems! And the best part is, we can jump because we're attached to stuff!" said Dot.

"Dot is not very technical. She gets to 'jump while attached to stuff'. So… yeah," said Deb.

"I should have said that I'd do the Roadblock," said Birdo.

"Well, wish us luck!" said Yoshi, running in the cave alongside Dot.

**Luigenius**

After about 45 seconds, Luigenius finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "Geez!" he said, as he slowly approached the Koopa.

"I assume you're with the race?" asked the Koopa. Luigenius nodded. "Alright then; let me hook this up…" The Koopa hooked a harness around Luigenius, and checked with his buddy up above to make sure all was alright.

"All good!" said the above Koopa.

"Okay, bud, whenever you're ready," the below Koopa said.

"Here goes nothing," said Luigenius. He squatted down, built up energy, and… "!"

**Dot**

**Yoshi**

"He sure sounds like he's having fun down there," said Yoshi.

"I know! This is gonna be so cool!" said Dot. "I'm literally shaking!"

"I bet Birdo and Deb are so jealous!" said Yoshi, laughing. After about a minute, they reached the base of the stairs.

"Okay, it's gonna take me a minute, but I'll hook you up," said the Koopa. He grabbed two harnesses, which were attached to chains that lead all the way back up to the above Koopa.

**Luigenius**

"Wow, look at this!" he said, walking a few yards into one of the mini-caves. He'd found a translucent, aqua blue stone. "This place rocks!" Looking down, he saw that the rock had been carefully split, and a pile of the teal gem lie before him. He grabbed ten of the stones and walked back out, leaping to the start.

"Luigenius, those are ten nice aquamarines," said the Koopa, marking something on a clipboard. "Continue as you wish."

Luigenius turned around to see Dot and Yoshi were about to jump to a cave for the first time.

"One… two… three!" they said. Holding hands, they leapt from the starting point. "AAAAAAAAAH!" they shouted. They flew through the darkness, laughing the whole way. They landed in a different cave than Luigenius had entered.

"Well, I'm sure not gonna get used to this!" said Luigenius. He cracked his neck and jumped off again. "Woo-hoo!"

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fourth**

"Sorry, but this is as close as I can get. It's a closed course, see," said the driver, a Beanish creature.

"It's okay. Thank you!" said Goombaria, stepping out of the taxi.

"How much?" asked Goombario.

"Eh, go ahead. I don't need any money, see," said the driver.

"Thank you. A lot," said Goombario. He closed the door and chased after his sister.

"That guy is so cool!" he said after reaching Goombaria.

"LOOK!" Goombaria shouted, knocking him over.

"Sheesh, what was that all about?" asked Goombario, standing up. "Oh!" He saw Goombaria was looking at their very own personalized go-kart.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" they said, together. They ran at approximately the speed of sound, leaving a sonic boom for the taxi driver to hear.

"Ouch, that hurt, see," he said to himself. Shaking his head, he drove off.

"Yes! And I get to drive it," said Goombario, laughing his way to the front seat.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Goombaria.

"Yes, Baria, I'm sure," Goombario said. "I just have to go to that cave over there." With that, they were off.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince- 0:05 remaining**

"It's finally over!" said c11, lifting her head back up. "HEY!" she shouted, pushing her sleeping partner over.

"Five more minutes, mom!" GLP said, in a daze.

"Come on, we've got our clue. Wait… how did you fall asleep in fifteen minutes?" asked c11.

"The powers of Greenleafprince are beyond me," said c11.

"Alright, just tell me where we're going," said GLP.

"Mushroom Gorge. We'd better catch up. I have a feeling a difficult yet awesome challenge is coming," said c11.

**Luigenius**

**Yoshi**

**Dot**

Yoshi and Dot decided that it would be much easier if they just helped each other throughout the Roadblock, so they grabbed up twenty of the yellow stone, stuffed them in their packs, and got ready to jump again. "One… two… three… YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!" they shouted, jumping again.

Luigenius couldn't help but smile. Hearing the two of them have so much fun reminded him of how lucky he was to be doing this in the race.

"It's definitely worth it. If we were to get eliminated this leg, I'd really be okay. I think it's Luigi who'd be ticked," said Luigenius.

"Wow!" he said, looking at the most stunningly red crystals he'd seen in his whole life. "I love this place." He quickly counted out ten, and stuffed them in the pockets of his cargo shorts. "WOOT!" he shouted as he jumped across the gap back to the Koopa.

"Dot and Yoshi, that's ten topazes each. And… ooh, Luigenius, you have our exclusive crystals- fire diamonds!" said the Koopa.

"Fire diamonds?" asked Luigenius.

"Yeah. At cool to warm temperatures, the crystal is a striking red. As it gets warmer, it turns oranger and then yellower and finally white at boiling temperature. Boiling temperature for water, I mean," the Koopa explained.

"That's so cool!" said Dot. "We need to go look at those next!"

"Which cave were they in?" asked Yoshi. Luigenius signaled to the fourth cave from the left. "Thanks!" He and Dot took off again. "Oh, man, this will never get boring!"

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Fourth**

"Look! Stop, Barry, there's the clue!" said Goombaria.

"Yeah, I can see that!" said Goombario.

"Oh…" said Goombaria. "Whatever!" She jumped right on out and opened the box. "There're still six clues left, so we're the fourth team here," she said.

"Yeah, not to mention the fact that Luigi, Deb, and Birdo are standing there," said Goombario.

"What?" asked Goombaria. She looked up, and saw the three, who waved at her. "Oh…"

"What's the clue say?" asked Goombario. Goombaria looked back at the paper and tore it open, seeing the red card inside.

"It's a Roadblock. 'Who likes spelunking?'" she read.

"I'll do it!" said Goombario. He quickly scanned the criteria. "Best. Roadblock. EVER!" he shouted, and ran inside, dropping the card. Goombaria bent over to pick it up.

"NO!" she shouted. "How dare he!"

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

"Stop here!" said Tippi, knowing (obviously) the location of the track. "Thanks!" She threw 20-some coins at the taxi driver and left.

"Chill out, dude," said Thoreau. "We're not in the back or anything."

"We can catch up and get into the top three for the first time in this whole race. I find that kind of big," said Tippi, quickly floating. "Hey, look!" She began to (somehow) fly even faster. "It's our kart! Look at it; it's so perfect for us!"

Tippi's side of the kart was decked out in triangular rainbows, and Thoreau's had a crazy design of red squares and blue circles. "It's really fitting. Especially because I get to drive!" Thoreau said, mocking.

"Well, it's not _perfect_," Tippi said.

**Luigenius**

**Yoshi**

**Dot**

**Goombario**

"Don't be nervous, just jump towards any cave. You won't fall or nothin'," said the Koopa.

"Okay, here goes nothing… WHOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Goombario shouted, flying and oddly rotating. He sort of fell into the cave he aimed at. "Well, this is going to be a long one."

"Luigenius, nice sapphires," said the Koopa. "You need ten more of one type, alright?" Luigenius nodded, and leapt again, striking a superhero pose in the air.

"Here are those pretty red diamonds," said Dot, finding a bright red glow inside of a small nook in the wall.

"Here, let me try," said Yoshi. He slid his hand into the crack, and brushed against the wall of rock. Surprisingly, the crystal came off- onto his hand! "Cool, let's see…" he said, counting, "I've got seven here."

"These seem to be much more durable in this icosahedron shape," said Dot. Yoshi looked at her strangely. "What? I've learned _some _things from my sister." Shaking his head, Yoshi reached in to get a few more icosahedra.

Luigenius looked at the large pile of green that lie before him. "I'm definitely coming back here," he said. He slowly counted out ten stones, and prepared for his last jump.

"I wanted to make it epic, so I backed as far as I could, and just ran really quickly. When I jumped, I chanted loudly," said Luigenius. "I didn't plan on hitting the wall on the other side though…"

"…Pain," said Luigenius as he slid down the wall. The ten emeralds spilled from his grip, and the Koopa counted them out.

"Well, that's all good!" the Koopa said. "Now, you can take any two crystals you want."

"Really?" Luigenius said, surprised. "Thank you!" He took two of the fire diamonds. "LUIGI!" he shouted. "LUIGI, YOU ARE NOT GONNA BELIEVE WHAT I JUST GOT!"

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

"Look, dere's de track!" said Frankie. The two had quickly reached the track, and saw their perfect Pianta car. A tree was sticking out of the back, shading the front with its large, green leaves. A green and brown skirt of leaves surrounded the side.

"It's amazing!" said Francesca. "I love it!" She smiled as she hopped into the passenger's seat and Frankie into the driver's. Frankie couldn't help but rev the engine.

"Oh yeah, dis is a good kart," he said. He sped down the track as fast as he could make the machine go.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

"Hey, here's a cluster of contestants!" said Thoreau.

"There's only four, so we must be fifth," said Tippi. "That's great!"

"Oh yeah. We're so staying in this race," said Thoreau.

"We've got a Roadblock, obviously," said Thoreau, pulling open a clue. "'Who likes spelunking?' This one is so me."

"Good luck!" said Tippi, watching her partner float in the cave.

"Luigi! Look what I got!" said a voice from inside the cave, obviously Luigenius'.

"What are those?" asked Tippi.

"These are fire diamonds. I got to take two of them!" said Luigenius.

"That's cool!" said Luigi, expecting Luigenius to hand him one.

"These will look so cool on my bookshelf!" said Luigenius.  
"…" said Luigi.

**Yoshi**

**Dot**

**Goombario**

**Thoreau**

"Since you've got the whole flyin' thing goin' on, you don't need to wear one of these harnesses, so… go ahead!" said the Koopa. With that, Thoreau floated to a nearby cave.

"Oh, excuse us," said Yoshi. He and Dot snuck by with a pile of stones, jumping back the way Thoreau had come.

"Yoshi and Dot, these are the fire diamonds I mentioned. Please pile them here- for now, no worries," the Koopa explained. "You need thirty more stones of three types. Each."

"Not a problem!" they said, and jumped backwards into a new cave. They quickly grabbed some green stones, entered a new cave, and picked up the blue stones.

"…" said Goombario, who they'd unknowingly shoved out of the way.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

"We'd better hurry, sis, there're only three karts left! And this stunning, awesome purple one must be ours!" said Vivian.

"I LOVED the karts! I'm so glad I'm here right now!" said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"I know!" said Vivian. The two quickly entered the car and began to drive off.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

"Hey, dere are only four other people here," said Frankie.

"Luigi and Luigenius are already gone, so you guys are sixth," said Tippi.

"Oh… that's relatively bad," said Francesca.

"Roadblock- 'Who likes spelunkin'?'" Frankie read.

"…" said Francesca.

"Well, who want to do it?" asked Frankie.

"…" said Francesca.

"Francesca! What's up?" said Frankie, nonchalantly.

"…" said Francesca.

"…Fine," said Frankie. He entered the cave and read the card on his way down.

**Yoshi**

**Dot**

**Goombario**

**Thoreau**

**Frankie**

"Alright, Frankie, this should fit tight," said the Koopa.

"Yep, it's all good," said Frankie. Not waiting for a 'go ahead', Frankie leapt into the nearest cave. "Yeah! Dis it what I live for!"

"Dot and Yoshi, just one more sample and you're all good!" said the Koopa.

"Well, are you ready for our last journey?" asked Yoshi.

"Quite," said Dot. She and Yoshi jumped again.

After a short while, Goombario had brought in three types, Thoreau and Frankie had each brought in two, and Yoshi and Dot were holding their last twenty as they leapt over the large gap.

"We should totally just hang here for a little while. It feels so exhilarating!" said Dot.

As Frankie jumped out of one cave to enter another, he realized that two contestants were in his way. "Look out!" he shouted, but bumped into the two, knocking a few of the aquamarines from their arms. "I'm sorry!" he said.

"It's alright," said Yoshi. "We'll just go get some more."

"We shouldn't have been resting there, in everyone's way," said Dot.

"Well, floating there was fun… for a few seconds," said Dot.

Frankie and Goombario were able to cash in their fourth and third (respectively) stashes, in return for the names- both had grabbed the famed fire diamonds.

"Dat's pretty cool!" said Frankie.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Are you gonna open the clue any time soon?" asked Luigi, parking the kart at the starting line.

"Oh! Right, sorry, I was thinking about these awesome things," said Luigenius. He opened the white card.

"Alright, Route Info for the win… 'Make your way to Starshine Cannon…'"

_Teams now have to return to Mario Circuit City. About a half of a mile from the city, there is a large cannon called the Starshine Cannon, which shoots racers to the famous track known as Rainbow Road. On that track, they'll find their next clue._

"Warning- Merge Ahead," Luigenius finished. "What is a Merge?"

"I don't know, maybe it's like an Intersection?" Luigi suggested.

"Let's just find this cannon," said Luigenius.

"…How are we gonna get back to Mario Circuit City?" Luigi asked. Luigenius knew- he drove the kart right off the track and onto the road.

"Whoo-hoo!" he shouted, driving the kart in the direction of the big city.

**Yoshi**

**Dot**

**Goombario**

**Thoreau**

**Frankie**

"Good job, Goombario, here's your clue!" said the Koopa, handing the Goomba his clue.

"Thank you!" Goombario said.

"Wait! You can have any two of these gems," the Koopa said.

"REALLY?" Goombario said. "AWESOME!" He picked two fire diamonds and ran back up the stairs.

"Ugh… I keep dropping all these dumb aquamarines!" said Dot. Yoshi hadn't had any trouble, but he decided that he would help.

"It's probably good to be in an alliance with a team that has a scary item," said Yoshi. "Besides, I think Dot and Deb are really nice."

"Well, I'll carry some," Yoshi said. "How many can you carry?"  
"I guess like six," Dot said.

"Well, I'll carry like fourteen then," Yoshi said. He assisted her, but felt something hit his backside, knocking all fourteen gems away.

"No!" shouted Thoreau. "Um, I'm sorry. I should watch where I'm going." He shook his head and returned to the cave he was in.

"Are we ever gonna get these rocks?" asked Dot.

"Maybe," said Yoshi.

Luckily, the next time, they got them.

"Thank the stars!" said Dot, handing the gems to the Koopa.

"Here are your clues, and you're both free to take any two stones you want," said the Koopa.

"Yes!" said Yoshi.

"Doot doot!" said Dot. She picked out two fire diamonds.

"Hmm…" said Yoshi. He picked a fire diamond for himself… and a sapphire for Birdo. "Serves her right," he whispered to himself.

"Frankie, I believe that makes five?" said the Koopa.

"It sure does," Frankie said.

"Well, do as they did, take two fire diamonds, and perhaps even your next clue," said the Koopa. Frankie did as he said.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"I guess we just take this?" asked Goombaria.

"Luigi and Luigenius did, so I don't see why we can't," said Goombario. "Now we getta go to Rainbow Road!"

"Sweet! I heard that that's the coolest race track ever!" Goombaria cheered.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

"We're finally here," said PPAD.

"Apparently that guy didn't know that the speed limit was like five thousand MPH faster than he was going," said DP.

"Come on, let's just climb into this chilly red kart," said PPAD. "What?" she groaned, realizing she was assigned the passenger's seat.

"Haha!" DP laughed. He kicked it into high gear.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

"Mm-kay, I think I'll do this spelunking Roadblock, okay?" said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn. Vivian took the card with her reading as she walked down the steps.

"Excuse us!" said Dot.

"'Scuse me too!" said Frankie.

"Wow!" said Vivian. She began to go down the stairs even faster.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"Okay, we'd best take these karts back to the road and head on back to Mario Circuit City," said Dot.

"Just follow them, it's easier," said Yoshi.

"So…" said Birdo.

"So… what?" asked Yoshi.

"What's with you and Dot?" Birdo asked.

Yoshi smiled. "Trust me, if you'd have done that Roadblock, you'd understand." Birdo didn't say a thing.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth**

"I guess we just have to get back on the road to the city then?" asked Francesca.

"Yep, dat seems to be about it," said Frankie.

"Alright! We've got this!" said Francesca.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

"We've got a Roadblock- 'Who likes spelunking?'" said PPAD. "Ick, you can take it."

"Cool," said DP. He quickly read over the description. "VERY cool!" he said, and ran inside.

"Let me guess, the one I don't want to do in the first place turns out to be the one that rocks?" PPAD asked.

"Yup," said Tippi.

**Thoreau**

**Vivian**

**DonPianta**

"Thoreau, good job! These emeralds look nice, AND you can take your clue now. AND you can take any two gems you want," said the Koopa.

"That sounds like a good deal to me," said Vivian, jumping to the first cave.

"Yeah, this is gonna be cool!" said DP. He leapt up. "This is awesome!" he shouted.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Sixth**

"Sorry I took so long," Thoreau said.

"Don't worry, we're not in the back yet," said Tippi. Marilyn and PPAD glanced over at her. "Not that you guys have anything to worry about either!" she said, quickly. Uncomfortably, she and Thoreau re-entered their kart and drove off to find the road back to Mario Circuit City.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Ninth**

"And we're finally here. Thanks to you," said c11, handing the required 27 coins to the taxi driver.

"I know, right?" the driver said. Ignoring him, collete11 and Greenleafprince rushed out of the taxi.

"Surprise, surprise, we're the last team so far," said GLP.

"Eh, come on. Let's just stay positive," said c11. They jumped into the kart and, almost instantaneously, drove away.

**Vivian**

**DonPianta**

"You know what's weird? I just realized this is my fourth Roadblock," said DP.

"Wow, really? This is just my third," said Vivian.

"I'm too eager to do all this fun-sounding stuff," said DP.

"Well I guess that's good, 'cause you got this one," said Vivian, giggling.

"Very true," said DP. Vivian was searching for her fourth source, and DonPianta had just handed in his third selection of fine gems.

"Good, these are topazes," said the Koopa.

"Very groovy," said DP. He smiled, and jumped back across.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Ninth**

"Hey Marilyn, hey P-Pad," said GLP.

"JESUS CHRIST! IT'S PPAD, NOT P-PAD!" yelled PPAD. The other three stared at her with wide eyes.

"…" they said.

"Okay… let's just get the clue," said c11.

"Alright, I got the last one… it's a Roadblock. Who knew. How about you do it?" said GLP.

"Why? I don't even know what it…" c11 began.

"We don't have time for this! Go inside the cave and down the stairs!" GLP shouted.

"UGH… fine," c11 said.

**Vivian**

**DonPianta**

**Collete11**

"Hey," said DP as collete11 entered.

"Wuzzup," she replied.

"You should be totally ecstatic that you got this Roadblock!" Vivian said.

"I didn't even get to read the card! GLP just decided I should do it and like forced me in here!" c11 said.

"Right. Just… do what he says," said DP, pointing at the Koopa, who waved.

The Koopa quickly explained the Roadblock, pausing after telling of the cave jumping long enough for collete11 to yell "YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!"

"You ready for this?" he asked.

"Heck yeah," said c11, jumping into an unoccupied cave. "WHOO-HOO!"

"WEE!" said Vivian, jumping all the way from the farthest opening. She'd pulled out some lovely sapphires. DonPianta came soon after her, hauling his fourth sample as well.

"Excellent sapphires Vivian! And Don, nice aquamarines!" said the Koopa.

"…" said Vivian and DP.

"Something makes me think that that was supposed to be suggestive," said DP.

"Uncomfortable!" said Vivian.

"…" said the Koopa. "Um, go ahead with your stuff, alright? Okay!" In an instant, the two dashed off the ledge.

"Okay, so what are these?" asked c11, handing the Koopa ten red stones with a strange radiance to them.

"You found the most famous gem of all- the fire diamonds. People come from all around just to buy these," said the Koopa. He quickly explained the color changes the stone could go through.

"If people came from all around, there'd be people here," DP whispered to Vivian.

"That is so cool!" said c11. After staring at them for a short time, she turned around. "JESUS!" she shouted, seeing DonPianta standing right behind her. "Don't do that!"

"Take a relax pill," said DP.

"Okay… these are your last samples, both of you?" said the Koopa. "Go ahead and take your next clue, and take two of any stones you want." Obviously, both chose to take two fire diamonds.

"Once again, I'm in last (.)," said c11.

"Hey, you'll only be a short while behind the others. That is, if you only focus on gettin' the crystals and ignore the fun that the others seem to be having.

"No way, Jose. I am so in it for the fun!" said c11. She struck a ballerina pose and gracefully jumped into the air, spinning all the way back to the Koopa, who face-palmed.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

"Okay, what's the clue say?" asked PPAD.

"We need to find a way back to Mario Circuit City, where we'll find a cannon that leads to Rainbow Road," said DP.

"OMFG! I LOVE Rainbow Road!" said PPAD, clapping happily.

"Come on, we'd better hurry!" said Vivian.

"Guh! Guh guh guh?" asked Marilyn.

"I don't know, I guess we drive our karts there?" said Vivian.

"There's no way we'll get a taxi out here," said DP.

"Well, let's just drive these! Everyone else did, right?" said PPAD.

"Alright then, let's vamoose!" said DP.

**Collete11**

"This is super easy, AND I get to do something cool, AND Greenleafprince doesn't get to do it," said c11, dancing around in the cave. "Oof!" she said as she tripped over the pile of gems left for the racers. "That's convenient," she said, counting out ten of the best and largest rocks.

After waiting for collete11 to cross the gap again, the Koopa held out his hand. "Now these are emeralds," he explained. "Not that there's anything nearly as interesting about these or any of the other crystals, really. Apart from the fire diamonds, this is just another gem mine."

"That's nice," said c11. She jumped again, flailing epically and shouting as she flew to the next cave. "OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOOOOOO!"

"…" said the Koopa, who then sweat-dropped.

"I should have never agreed to do this," said the Koopa.

"WTF? What are you doing here? This camera is PRIVATE, for racers only!" said c11. She smacked the Koopa.

"And here you aah," said c11, grabbing up her last ten. She flew back, quickly, flashing the Koopa a peace sign.

"Congrats, here's your next clue," the Koopa said.

"I would like to take two of the fire diamonds," said c11, snatching the white envelope and the two stones.

"Not a problem. Good luck," the Koopa finished.

"Okay, listen up, sister, we've gotta get back to the city with the cannon to Rainbow Road," c11 said, reading the clue to Greenleafprince.

"Not a problema," said GLP, jumping back into the kart. Collete11 was shocked when they crossed over the grass to get on the road to Mario Circuit City. "What? Everyone else was doing it."

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Yes, this feels good," said Luigenius.

"It's nice to be in first, since we were in last in leg four," said Luigenius. "It'll honestly be okay even if we get eighth this leg."

"Although I'd rather just get first," said Luigi.

"That works for me," said Luigenius.

"About how much longer until we get there?" asked Luigi. The kart rounded a bend, and the large city was clearly right there. "Oh."

"I'd say like two minutes?" said Luigenius. "And then we have to find that cannon."

"I know where the cannon is; I've been here before," said Luigi.

"Oh, coolio," said Luigenius.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"We should be catching up to them," said Goombario.

"You can catch up to anyone if you're speeding as quickly as you are," said Goombaria. "I half-died back there."

"You did not half-die!" said Goombario.

"How do you know?" said Goombaria. "Oh, don't scare me half to death, 'cause then I'll actually be dead, so…"

"Really? Calm yourself."

"…"

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"We should be coming up on the city soon!" shouted Deb, back at the dinos.

"We know; we've been here before," said Birdo.

"Well then! You can help us find this cannon!" said Dot.

"Right," said Yoshi.

"Hey! I can see it!" said Dot, excitedly.

"Oh my god! You can see it? Really? I'm so happy for you!" said Deb.

"Hey, don't ruin my moment!" said Dot.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Okay, so where is that pipe?" asked Luigenius.

"Read the sign, smart one," said Luigi.

"It points left and right, smart one," said Luigenius.

"Turn left," said Luigi. "It's much faster."

"Alright, I'm going left."

After a minute, they reached a large pipe, which was off the road. "Just drive right into it," said Luigi.

"Okay," said Luigenius. He turned the kart so it rode right into the pipe.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"Did you see which way they turned?" asked Goombaria.

"Yeah, they went left," said Goombario. "Luigi's definitely been here before, so I'm sure he knows the way."

"Okay, then go left!"

The Goomba Kart reached the turn, and went left, as Luigi and Luigenius had. "Now where is that pipe?" asked Goombaria.

"It's about a quarter of a mile this way," said Goombario.

"Well, hurry! We could get first!" said Goombaria.

"The speed limit is only 15 miles an hour!" said Goombario. Doing the mental math, Goombaria agreed, groaning.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"There's a large turn here, so which way are we going?" asked Dot.

"We can see the turn," said Birdo.

"Go left," said Yoshi.

They went left.

"Are you sure this is the right way? You'd think we'd have seen something by now," said Dot.

"It takes more than three seconds to see something, girl," said Deb.

"…" said Dot.

"Don't worry; it's literally less than a minute away," said Yoshi.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth**

"Look! Dey all went dat way," said Frankie.

"Well, follow them. If they're wrong, at least we're close," said Francesca.

"Dis leg is still far from over. We've still got a Detour to do," said Frankie.

"If we even have one this leg," said Francesca.

"Sugar plum, dere's always gonna be a Detour."

"Alright… this sign says that Rainbow Road is both left and right. And then it says ¼ mile, but the other distance is missing," said Francesca.

"One fourth of a mile ain't dat bad. Let's just follow dem," said Frankie.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Wait… where's the cannon?" asked Luigenius. The two were inside a large, dark room.

"Right in the middle there. The lights will come on, the Starshine Cannon will open, and we step inside. Then, the roof will open and we'll be headed straight to the course," Luigi explained.

"That's so cool! Wait… what about our karts?"

"The karts are sent up by a cloud towing taxi service, so they take too long. This clue says to leave them outside," said Luigi. The kart, after coming through the pipe, had ended up in the cannon's parking lot.

"This place is too weird," said Luigenius. The lights flashed on, suddenly, surprising the pair.

"ENTER THE CANNON," said a voice, billowing over the intercom. Luigenius looked strangely at Luigi, who walked right into the device.

"Hurry up," said Luigi. Luigenius hesitated, but ran into the cannon as well.

"GACK!" he shouted. He was surprised that the distance to the bottom was so short.

"This thing only holds four people," said Luigi. "Get ready for…" Then, the cannon fired them out.

"WHOOOOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOO!" they shouted, flying through the air at a speed near that of sound.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"Ooh! There's the pipe, Barry!" said Goombaria. Seeing it, Goombario turned into it.

"Wow. This is so… bright," said Goombario, squinting.

"The cannon's open! Let's use it!" said Goombaria. The siblings jumped inside. "Yow, it's hot!" Before Goombario could reply, he and his sister were shot into space.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEP!" shouted Goombaria.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Sixth**

"Here, there's the city!" said Tippi.

"I can see that," said Thoreau. "It's not like I'm blind."

"Okay, sorry."

"Which way am I gonna wanna turn here?"

"Both ways say Starshine Cannon to Rainbow Road," said Tippi.

"You're the one who can look up stuff, so which way is faster?" asked Thoreau.

"It seems to be closer to the left," said Tippi. "Turn left."

"Fine," said Thoreau.

"Wait… since when are _you_ driving?" said Tippi.

"Remember, the driver's seat was originally _mine_. _You _just tried to take it over, but failed," said Thoreau. "Stupid," he said, under his breath.

"I may be stupid, but I can hear," said Tippi. "Wait, I'm not stupid, I know everything! All I have to do is scan!"

"I know, blah blah blah scan blah blah blah know everything. I get the picture."

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Third**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fourth**

"Here! To the right!" said Birdo. Dot and Deb spotted the pipe, entering. The dinos were close behind. They ended up in the obnoxiously bright room as well.

"This is a major waste of electricity," said Dot.

"And a major waste of the lifespan of my sight," said Yoshi, squinting severely.

"Let's just get into the pipe, okay?" said Birdo. She entered first, then Yoshi, then Deb, then Dot.

"I wonder how long it takes to…" Dot began, cut off by the sound of the cannon, blowing its contents into space.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!" shouted Dot.

"WHOOOOOOOAAAAAA!" shouted Deb.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in First**

"Look! There's a clue box over there!" said Luigi, pointing to a small box a long ways down the track. It took the two a while to reach it, but they finally did. Luigenius pulled out a clue.

"Merge!" he read.

_A Merge is a combination of three teams. Instead of being teamed as A/B, C/D, and E/F as they were before, the teams will have to merge into A/B/C and D/E/F. More descriptively, one team must split, each member joining another team. The mega-teams will have to make all decisions together until the end of the leg. At the start of the next leg, teams will return to normal. The split team will leave at the average time of both members' arrivals. Example: A/B/C arrives at 10:00, D/E/F arrives at 11:00. A/B will depart at 10:00, E/F will depart at 11:00, and C/D will depart at 10:30. Therefore, even though they are apart, the split team will not be eliminated. Another catch- it's also impossible for them to get first this leg. This is explained to the teams._

"Wow… this is deep," said Luigenius. He handed the clue over to Luigi.

"Someone's gonna have to split up," said Luigi.

"AND we have to wait for two other teams to arrive," said Luigenius.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Seventh**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Eighth**

"Okay, we've made it to the city after half an hour," said PPAD.

"Which way do we turn?" asked Vivian.

"I'd say left," said DP.

"Why is that?" asked Vivian.

"I've seen Doctor Who. I know the best choice is always left," DP replied.

"Whatever. It looks like it doesn't even matter," said PPAD. Both teams turned left.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

"The clue must be all the way over there, because there're two people waiting there!" said Goombaria.

"This Merge must be some weird Intersection variant," Goombario said. After a short while, they reached the Merge.

"Guys, this is really messed up," said Luigenius, handing Goombaria a clue.

The Goombas read it, slowly opening their mouths. "Whoa," they both said.

"Is that even possible?" said Goombaria.

"It must be, there are nine teams of two, so in the end, there'll be six teams of three," Luigi thought out loud.

"So we have to wait for the next team?" said Goombario. "Ugh, this isn't gonna end well."

"Why not?" asked Luigi.

"Both the dinos and the Doot Doot sisters are coming. Apparently they're in some sort of alliance," said Goombario.

"…" said Luigenius and Luigi.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth**

The two soon went through the same ordeal as the others, discovering that the karts were all in the parking lot and being blinded by an inordinate amount of white light.

"Why can't they use something less… bright?" asked Francesca. "Like blue or even UV?"

"Wouldn't it get annoying to have to look at de same color all over everyting?" asked Frankie.

"I guess. Let's just get in this cannon before we drop farther below second," said Francesca.

"It's nice to be doing so well, but pretty soon, we're gonna have to get first. I mean, second is just the first team not to get a bonus, right?" said Francesca.

"I still think dat it's amazin' dat we've been in de top four all race," said Frankie.

"Into de cannon!" said Frankie.

"That's kind of scary," said Francesca.

"Close your eyes and hold onto me tight. I won't let anyting bad happen to you. I'll keep you safe, sugar plum," said Frankie.

"Aww… I love you! " said Francesca. She cupped Frankie's hand, squeezed it tight, and closed her eyes, letting out a little yelp as the two jumping into the cannon.

"See?" said Frankie.

"That wasn't so bad! Now we just AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Francesca said and then screamed as the cannon blasted them into space.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Third**

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Fourth**

"Okay, it must be out their where they're all waiting," said Yoshi.

"Why are there two teams waiting? I thought the point of all this was that two teams paired up!" said Dot.

"No, that's Intersection. This is a Merge," said Deb.

"Tumble and McBallyHoo never told us anything about a Merge," said Dot.

"Well, they didn't tell us about Outlets or Forks either, did they?" said Birdo.

"Come on, let's just see what this Merge entails," said Deb.

The four soon reached the spot where the two teams were waiting, and read the merge clue.

"Oh boy," said Yoshi.

"Well, who wants to team with us?" said Dot.

"It would figure that Dot and Deb wouldn't want to split from Yoshi and Birdo," said Goombario.

"I thought, 'Hey. Luigi and Luigenius were first. Let them Merge with Dot and Deb and Yoshi and Birdo,'" said Goombaria.

"How about you three teams work it out?" said Goombaria.

"Okay, thank you!" said Dot.

Eventually, they decided that the new teams would be…

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo, Currently in First**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Okay, what's the clue say?" asked Luigi.

"It says, 'Make your way back to Mario Circuit City…'" read Yoshi.

_Mega-teams now must return to Mario Circuit City and enter Star Statue Park, named for its largest and most popular statue, the Power Star Statue. There are hundreds of race-related statues spread all over the 672-acre park, and teams will have to find one of a simple Blooper, a statue often missed by casual tourists. At the statue, they'll find their next clue._

"Well, we'd better hurry back and get our karts again," said Deb. And they were off.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fourth**

"Okay, dat must be it, because dere's de Goombas," said Frankie. The two ran the long distance to reach the clue box, and read the description for the Merge.

"This is so weird," said Francesca.

"Is dis really happening?" asked Frankie.

"It's really happening," said Goombaria.

"So dat means we'll have to wait for de next team den," said Frankie.

"Great," said Francesca, sighing.

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Fifth**

"You've GOT to be KIDDING me!" shouted Thoreau, as their kart slowed to a halt.

"Something's wrong," said Tippi.

"I know!" shouted Thoreau.

"Relax, we're still ahead of some teams, so we'll catch up, alright?" said Tippi.

"Look, here comes two teams already!" said Thoreau, angry.

"Thoreau often overreacts. He was yelling at the kart for breaking down, and then he was ticked that there was only one team any real distance behind us," said Tippi.

"I just don't understand why the race can't give us karts that work!" said Thoreau.

In the two karts approaching were Vivian and Marilyn and DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy. Both vehicles pulled over.

"Need a ride?" asked Vivian.

"Thanks," said Thoreau. He piled into the sisters' car, and Tippi fit into the car of the FanFictioners. Soon, the six reached the pipe.

"In we goooooo!" said PPAD, slowly getting quieter as they entered.

Suddenly and inadvertently, they were all exposed to an intense light.

"Ouch, they need to lessen the wattage," said DP.

"Or the amperage, or the voltage, or SOMETHING," said PPAD.

"Hey, the cannon's in the middle of this room, so let's just see if we can all ride in it, okay?" asked Tippi. The six all stuffed inside the cannon, and it went off… blasting them all of seven feet, right back onto the floor, discombobulated.

"I think it won't shoot us all up at once," said Vivian.

"We'll just go up one by one. Team by team, I mean," said DP.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Eighth**

"Okay, Mario Circuit City is right near here," said c11. "It looks like we can still catch up."

"How so?" asked GLP.

"I don't know, but I feel it. The others aren't too far ahead, and I feel as though a smoosh challenge is coming," said c11.

"A WHAT?" asked GLP.

"A smoosh! Something that forces teams to wait for each other, like at an Intersection!" said c11.

"Duh, it's like an Intersection. It's called Merge, so it must be one of them smooshes you speak of," said GLP.

"Alright, I'm gonna go with my gut and say we turn left here," said c11.

"…" said GLP. "We're not even at a turn yet."

"Well, when we get to a turn, we must go left!" said c11, pointing left, epically.

"Right…"

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Sixth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Seventh**

"Okay, here we are, the Rainbow Road," said Tippi.

"It's beautiful," said Vivian, admiring the floating images of Mario and his friends in the dark, starry sky.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"This would be a wonderful place to spend time," said PPAD.

"Yeah," said Thoreau. All six looked into the sky to take in the beauty.

"It felt like this was the first time we'd stopped to enjoy the race for the experience. You've gotta learn to live in the moment and not get flustered by the race and just run by without knowing what you've missed," said Vivian.

"I guess we'd better find out what this Merge is," said Thoreau. The others seemed to agree, and they quickly scanned the course.

"Oh! There're Goombario, Goombaria, Frankie, and Francesca!" said DP, seeing them first. He began to run towards them, followed closely by the others.

"Thank goodness another team showed up," said Goombario. The three arriving teams took a clue, and began to read the description of the Merge.

"Wow," said Thoreau.

"These guys actually have enough time to plan all this out?" asked PPAD. "I thought they had to spend a lot of time working on the activities and stuff."

"Well, we've been waiting a while, so we were wondering…" began Goombario.

All five teams talked for a while, and after a minute, they'd figured the resulting teams.

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fourth**

"Are you sure it's okay for us to go?" asked DP.

"Yes, please stop asking and just go!" laughed Vivian.

"Okay, if you're sure," said DP.

PrincessPeachAndDaisy and Frankie were reading their clues. "Alright," said Frankie, "dis says dat we've gotta go back to de city and head to de Star Statue Park."

"Well, we might as well hurry!" said Francesca, and the mega-teams were off.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh**

"Well, here's the pipe to Rainbow Road!" said c11.

"And sweet relief from being in last place," said GLP, driving into the pipe.

"AAAAAACK!" both shouted, from lack of kart and overabundance of light.

"What is WRONG with these people?" said c11.

"Come on, girl, let's get in this pipe!" GLP said, running towards the cannon. "I mean, cannon!"

Both entered, expecting the blast off soon. "This is rather anticlimactic if nothing happens," said c11. About five seconds passed, and they were launched.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

**Tippi and Thoreau, Currently in Sixth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh**

"Look! Here they come!" said Vivian, excitedly.

"Sorry it took so long!" shouted c11.

"Wait, why are all of you waiting?" asked GLP.

"You'll have to read the card to understand!" Thoreau shouted back. Collete11 and Greenleafprince ran over and took the last clue, instantly being surprised.

"WHOA!" said GLP.

"They wanna split up teams?" asked c11.

"No way, collete is like a sister to me," said GLP.

"Hell yeah!" said c11, hugging her 'sister'.

"You two are actual sisters, and we don't want to split that either," said Tippi.

"How about I go with the Shadow Sirens and you go with collete and GLP?" Thoreau suggested. The others all seemed to agree.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fifth**

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth (Last)**

"Okay, the clue says that we now have to go to Star Statue Park back in the city," said Vivian.

"Well we'd better hurry unless one of us wants to get last," said c11, and they were off.

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo, Currently in First**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Taxi! Taxi!" shouted Yoshi. The teams, now with three members, were unable to fit into their karts, so they decided to leave them in the parking lot. A taxi pulled over.

"After you," said Luigi. Birdo looked at him as Dot, Deb, and Luigenius stepped inside.

"Can you please take us to Star Statue Park?" asked Deb.

"Not a problem," said the driver, a Shy Guy.

"What was that?" asked Birdo.

"Calm down. Another taxi's coming anyway," said Luigi. They entered the taxi quickly.

"Star Statue Park, please," Yoshi requested.

"That park's like five miles from here. That's gonna cost you maybe 15 coins," said the driver.

"So?" asked Birdo.

"Just checkin'. Money can be a little tight 'round here if you know what I mean," the driver said, pulling into the road.

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in Third**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fourth**

"Look! Here comes a taxi!" said Francesca.

"But it's only one, so only one team can go," said DP.

"Well, you guys can go ahead," said PPAD.

"What? No! You guys have two females on your team. Just trying to be respectful here," said Goombario. "Besides, I want my sister to get there first."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" said Goombaria.

"Just go ahead," said Frankie.

"Thank you, very much," said DP, hopping in first. His teammates soon followed.

"I hope another taxi comes soon," said Francesca.

"Look! There's one coming from over there!" said Goombario. It quickly arrived, and they were soon following the team ahead.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Fifth**

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn, Currently in Sixth**

"Look! A taxi!" shouted GLP, pointing crazily.

"…" said the other five.

"How about you three take that one, and we'll take one of the ones coming by," said Vivian.

"Okay," said c11. As soon as the taxi parked, she, Greenleafprince, and Tippi rushed to get inside, all bonking into each other.

"Ouch," said Tippi. They decided to neatly slide in, one after another.

"Take us to Star Statue Park!" said c11, commandingly.

"Fine, sheesh," said the Goomba driving.

"Well, it would be nice if another taxi would stop to let us in," said Thoreau.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" said Vivian. With a snap, she used the move Infatuate. Tens of taxis parked along the street, with love-stricken drivers. "Here… let's take this one!" she said, giggling as she spotted a muscled-up driver.

"Take us to Star Statue Park, please," said Vivian, blowing him a kiss. The driver slammed on the accelerator, going (easily) over twice the speed limit.

"GUH!" shouted Marilyn. The driver snapped out of it and jerked left to avoid collision with a sign.

"So sorry, dear," said the driver to Vivian, who began to blush. "But, no worries, I know of a shortcut."

"?" said Vivian. The driver turned down a road that faced Mario Circuit. He drove quickly down it and then, they saw a patch of rainbow on the road.

"Oh no, not a speed AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Vivian screamed as they were launched over the course.

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in First**

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo, Currently in Second**

"Thank you so much!" said Deb, handing the driver several coins, as did Luigi.

"Come on, we've got to find this Blooper statue quickly!" said Dot, running into the park.

"Where could it be?" asked Luigi.

"Well, the clue says it's not often visited, so I'm guessing it's a ways from the crowds of people," said Yoshi.

"Maybe we can find a map or something," said Birdo. She looked around the vicinity. "I don't see anything."

"Well, let's ask someone," said Luigenius. "Excuse me, do you know where we can find the Blooper statue?" he asked a nearby Toad.

"No, but I think it's over there somewhere," the Toad said, pointing beyond the Star statue.

"Okay, thanks," said Deb, and the six were off.

"I cannot believe we can't find this statue," said Birdo.

"Calm down, we've only been here for a few minutes," said Yoshi.

"We'll just have to keep asking people," said Luigi.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where the statue of a Blooper is, do you?" Deb asked a Goomba.

The Goomba shook his head.

"Well, thanks anyway," said Dot.

"Hey!" said Luigenius, a few feet away, "This guy says we have to go this way!" He pointed to a small crevasse, between two chunks of forest. A glint of brass was visible through it.

"That's gotta be it!" said Deb, running in after her partner.

Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo noticed their direction. "I think they found it," said Birdo. "Let's follow them." They ran right towards the trees. Luigi fit through easily, but Yoshi and Birdo hesitated.

"That looks kind of small," said Yoshi.

"I don't think our noses will fit!" said Birdo.

"Well… you guys have to try unless you want to lose!" said Luigi.

"…" said Yoshi and Birdo.

"Come on! Here, Yoshi, you go first," said Luigi.

"Okay, here's the clue box!" said Luigenius. Dot and Deb were busy admiring the statue.

"It's very detailed," said Deb.

"I'm surprised more people don't come here!" said Dot.

"Right. But here's the clue!" said Luigenius. "It's a Detour. 'Cardinal or Ordinal?'"

_A Detour is a choice between two tasks, one of which each mega-team must do. In Cardinal, teams will have to take a taxi 5 miles to Koopa Cape, a popular course near a water park. On the course are thirty-six hidden plush cardinals. They are bright red, and should be easy to spot, but they are rather small and hidden well in a large course. Each mega-team will have to find six cardinals and return them to the manager of the nearby Koopa Cape Water Park to receive their next clue. In Ordinal, teams will have to return to the Starshine Cannon to retrieve their kart, which they must drive 20 miles to Peach Beach, where they'll have to drive through ten numbered gates in order. The task doesn't take a detective's eye, but the gates are not necessarily in order and the course is farther from Mario Circuit City. Once they've made it through gate 10, the clue will fall from the gate into their kart._

"Well, these are two very different ideas," said Dot.

"We should do Cardinal. It's a lot closer and it doesn't sound too hard," said Luigenius.

"Sounds good to me! Doot doot!" said Deb.

"This leg is going to go by smoothly if we can all agree. I feel bad for Luigi, having to be with Birdo. Yoshi's not so bad, but I bet Birdo is going to drive him crazy," said Luigenius.

"Ow, that hurts!" said Yoshi, massaging his nose after squeezing through the trees.

"OOCH!" shouted Birdo as she quickly passed through as well.

"You know what sucks… we have to go back through it to get to our Detour," said Luigi.

"Well, which one should we do?" asked Birdo. Luigi explained the choices.

"It seems that Cardinal would be faster," said Yoshi. "And now, back through the pain.

"Yack!" both Yoshi and Birdo shouted as the squeezed through again.

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in Fourth**

"Okay, here's the Star Statue Park," said PPAD.

"Well, that must be the Star Statue over there," said Francesca, pointing to a line of people.

"Den dat's not what we're lookin' for," said Frankie.

"I wonder if anyone knows where this Blooper Statue is," said DP.

"I bet Tippi knows. Tippi knows everything," said Goombaria.

"That's probably why they're still here even though they're consistently in the bottom," said Goombario.

"Look! Here comes some more people!" said DP, noticing the two mega-teams ahead of them.

"Oh no, they've already caught up!" said Birdo. The other five passively waved.

"Good luck finding it," said Dot.

"Good luck fitting through the entryway," said Yoshi, and the two mega-teams ran out of the park.

"Well, it's obviously inside of a small gap or something," said Francesca.

"Hey! There's one over there!" said PPAD, pointing to a spot about 50 feet from the group. She began to run towards it. Left with no choice, the others ran after her. "Yeah! I can see it through here!" she said, sliding through the gap. DonPianta, Goombaria, and Goombario followed.

"Uch! I do NOT want to squish between these two trees!" said Francesca.

"Well, de clue box is just right dere, so why don't we just let Goombario get de clue for us?" Frankie suggested.

"Okay," said Francesca.

"Detour," said DP. "It asks, 'Cardinal or Ordinal?'"

"We should totally do Cardinal. I've got the eyes of a hawk," said PPAD.

"Or should you say, you've got the eyes of a cardinal?" DP suggested.

"That was overly cliché," said PPAD.

"Come on, let's go," said Goombaria.

"Are you coming?" asked Goombario.

"No," said Francesca.

"It's right dere. Just get de clue," said Frankie. Sighing, Goombario retrieved the clue and brought it back.

"Well, what do you want to do, Cardinal or Ordinal?" asked Goombario.

"Cardinal sounds better," said Francesca.

"Well den let's go!" said Frankie. The three quickly caught up to the other mega-team.

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in First**

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo, Currently in Second**

"That didn't take long," said Luigi as soon as they arrived.

"Yeah, if you think 20 minutes isn't all that long of a time," said Birdo.

"It's weird how 20 minutes can make a huge difference in this race. I've watched the American Amazing Race on TV, and they're almost never quite as close as we all have been this race. The teams still here all really deserve it, and it's gonna be strange to see one go," said Yoshi.

"Okay, we've gotta find five cardinals, right?" asked Dot.

"We have to find six," said Luigenius.

"Five, six, what's the difference?" Dot said.

"Come on, let's just look," said Deb. It didn't take long for Luigi to find one. He looked at the starting line, and, on the big sign that showed 'Mario Kart', he saw a cardinal stuck in the 'o'.

"There's one in the sign!" he said, pointing to it.

"…" said Yoshi and Birdo.

"…?" said Luigi.

"How do we get to it?" asked Yoshi.

"Try throwing an egg at it or something," said Luigi. Birdo tensed up, and then spit an egg from her nose at the sign. It hit the 'r'.

"Wow. Your aim needs work," said Yoshi. He produced an egg, and threw it as well, completely missing the sign.

"You're one to talk," said Birdo. She tried again, and knocked the toy out of the 'o'.

"(_)," said Yoshi.

"Come on, just get the cardinal and let's find five more," said Luigi.

"Hey, is that one back there in the field?" asked Dot, several feet from the other mega-team.

"No, genius, that's a mushroom," said Deb. "Wait… a mushroom!" She ran over and grabbed it, and was able to run very fast! …For three seconds. "That was a waste of a mushroom."

"Come on, we've got to find some of these darned cardinals," said Luigenius. "Hey, look! There's one over here!" Dot and Deb ran over to see. "It's up there, on top of that gate!"

"Wouldn't that be a bad place for it? What if it fell into the water below?" asked Deb. Luigenius climbed up to grab it, but the toy fell- right off the gate.

"NO!" screamed Dot and Deb at the same time. Luigenius turned around, holding the bird!

"How did you do that?" asked Dot.

"It was tied to the gate so it wouldn't fall," said Luigenius.

"Oh thank god!" said Dot.

"Well, that's a relief," said Deb.

"Hey, let's just keep looking around," said Luigenius. "Look at all these item boxes. I wouldn't be surprised if there were cardinals inside them." He walked over to one and burst it. Out came a green shell. "Ack, bad memories."

"Maybe not. Let's just look in trees and behind rocks and stuff," said Dot.

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in Fourth**

"Here it is, and there are Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo," said Francesca.

"Come on, we've got to ignore them for now and get some cardinals," said Goombario. Running onto the course, he stumbled over a rock. "Ouch," he said. Looking at the large rock he'd bumped into, he saw it was turned over. It was hollowed out, and a small, red object was inside.

"Dat must be one of dem!" said Frankie, pulling it out of the rock. Indeed, it was a cardinal.

"Well, I hope it's that easy for us," said PPAD.

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

"Here's the park! Good luck," said the driver, waving at Vivian, who waved back.

"Did you see that?" said Vivian. "He was so fine!"

"Guh!" agreed Marilyn.

"…" said Thoreau.

"I should have let Tippi be partnered with them," said Thoreau.

"Yeah, we should find the statue now, see," said Thoreau.

"Oh, alright," said Vivian. "…"

"…?" said Thoreau.

"How are we gonna find it?" asked Vivian.

"Here, I've got an idea…" said Thoreau. He grabbed Vivian and held her high up. "Look for it!" he said.

"…" said Vivian and Marilyn.

"Just look!" said Thoreau.

"Okay… Oh! I know where it is!" said Vivian. Thoreau let her down. "Come on, we can travel more quickly past all these people underground!" she said. Marilyn went down, and Vivian grabbed Thoreau, following her.

The trio soon came up, with the statue right next to them- along with the clue box. "Okay, there are only two clues left," said Vivian.

"That means that the only ones behind us are Tippi, collete, and GLP," said Thoreau.

"I hope they do okay… But I really don't want to go home yet," said Vivian. "Okay, this one's a Detour. 'Cardinal or Ordinal?'" she read.

"Cardinal seems easier, since I can fly and look in trees and stuff," said Thoreau.

"AND it won't take us an hour to reach," said Vivian.

"Guh guh guh," said Marilyn.

"Guh guh guh guh guh, ugh ugh guh guh guh," said Marilyn. "Guh guh guh guh guh ugh."

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo- 2 Cardinals**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb- 1 Cardinal**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca- 1 Cardinal**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 0 Cardinals**

"I'm thinking that we won't be doing so well on this," said PPAD. DonPianta didn't reply, he just continued to scan the underground pipe, running with water.

"Look at this!" said Goombaria, noticing a hole in the top of the pipe. Stuck inside was one of the cardinals. "That wasn't so bad!" she said, jumping to reach it. She couldn't. "…"

"Here, I'll get it," said PPAD. She walked over to the spot where it was, reached her arm up, and jumped. She just brushed the bottom of it, knocking at a bit loose. "This is gonna take a few tries," she said.

DonPianta kept looking as his partner attempted to pull out the cardinal. He noticed each of the several spinning, shocking devices had a door on the front. "That's weird," he said, opening one. Inside was a control panel, with quite a bit of empty space.

"It's things like this that help win a leg," said DP.

He ran quickly to the next shocker in line, opening the hatch to reveal nothing but the blinking lights. He dashed through an opening in the electric surges, and came upon the third device. He opened it to find a cardinal. "Score!" he said, pulling it out. As soon as he did, both sides of the pipe closed.

"What did you do?" asked PPAD.

"I don't know, but we're totally trapped," said DP.

Francesca walked over to the pipe to see if she could find any cardinals near it, but she didn't see anything. She decided to take a short break, leaning against a tree. "What's this?" she said, noticing a hole in the tree. She reached in, seeing red inside. Unfortunately for her, it was an actual cardinal.

"SQUAWK!" it yelled, flying away as Francesca screamed.

"What's wrong, pudding cup?" asked Frankie.

"I found a cardinal," Francesca replied. Frankie looked up at the departing bird.

"I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, dis one ain't real," he said, holding out another.

"Hey, there might be some in the pipe… WHOA!" Goombario said, looking in. His sister, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, and DonPianta were all trapped inside.

"Barry!" Goombaria said from inside.

"Goombaria! What happened?" said Goombario, running to the entrance.

"I don't know!" said Goombaria.

"Don, you must have flipped a switch or severed a circuit or something!" said PPAD.

"I don't know! I didn't mean to!" said DP.

"Well how are we gonna get out?" shouted PPAD.

"I DON'T KNOW!" DP shouted.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Sixth**

"Here's the Star Statue Park!" said c11, smiling.

"Thanks, now we can leave!" said GLP, excitedly leaving.

"Whoa whoa whoa! This is gonna cost ya," said the driver.

"…" said Tippi.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," said c11. She handed the driver eleven coins and followed GLP out the door.

"Women, ya know?" said the driver to Tippi.

"I'm a girl," said Tippi, leaving.

"…" said the driver.

"Okay, Tippi, where's the Blooper Statue?" asked c11.

"Something makes me think it's this way," said Tippi, floating off. Collete11 and Greenleafprince stayed close behind.

"Um… you stopped," said GLP, looking around.

"It must be through here," said Tippi, noting a small space between two annexes of the park-surrounding forest.

"How are we gonna fit through there?" asked c11.

"According to your weight and clothing sizes, you should have no problem," said Tippi.

"ACH! YOU DID NOT JUST MAKE FUN OF MY WEI… wait, we'll fit? Aw, thank you!" said GLP. She slipped in first, leaving collete11 and Tippi to look at each other and roll their eyes. "_AAAAAAAAny_way," GLP said. "We've finally got a Detour! 'Cardinal or Ordinal?'"

"We should definitely do Ordinal," said c11.

"Hell yeah!" said GLP.

"Hell no!" said Tippi.

"No wonder they're in last. Gah, I had to be paired with the most agreeing partners ever. As in, they agree. With each other," said Tippi.

"Tippi. Believe us. We will beast at this," said c11.

"…" said Tippi. Collete11 and Greenleafprince began to leave, and Tippi sighed and followed.

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo- 3 Cardinals**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb- 2 Cardinals**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca- 2 Cardinals**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 2 Cardinals**

"Well, what do YOU suppose we do?" asked DP, slightly angered at his partner.

"I don't know! See if anything looks different between that thing and another, properly operating one!" said PPAD. DonPianta inspected the proper one thoroughly, and then returned to the broken one.

"It all looks the same!" said DP, sighing as he sat down.

"Let me look," said Goombaria. She took a good look at the operating one, and then walked over to the broken one. "I know the problem!"

"What is it?" asked DP and PPAD.

"The RGB setting on the working one is A345EF. The RGB setting on this one is A3A5EF," said Goombaria. DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy looked at her, confused. "The color of the hub light has changed!" she said. She changed the green setting from A5 to 45, and the LED in the center of the device changed from a soft blue to a purple color. The pipe opened on both ends.

"Baria!" Goombario shouted, running in. Frankie and Francesca followed.

"Are you all alright?" asked Francesca.

"Yeah, but that was really weird," said DP.

"I never thought changed the wavelengths of light emitting from an LED would affect the motions and entrances of a pipe underwater. This is way too dangerous," said DP.

"Well, we're outta here, there are no more cardinals," said PPAD.

"Unless there's one in the last device…" said DP.

"Come ON Don!" PPAD shouted, walking past the last device.

"Right," DP said.

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

The three arrived at Koopa Cape in a relatively short amount of time, considering the distance and rather slow speed limit.

"We should all send a letter to the mayor of Mario Circuit City, asking that the speed limit be increased from 15 mph!" said Vivian.

"Guh!" agreed Marilyn. All others in the vicinity agreed.

"Come on, Marilyn, and Thoreau, let's find these cardinals!" Vivian said, optimistically. She and Marilyn searched around the ground, while Thoreau flew up to look in the trees, on windows, etc.

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo- 4 Cardinals**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb- 3 Cardinals**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca- 3 Cardinals**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 2 Cardinals**

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn- 0 Cardinals**

"Well, it looks like we'll be doing well this leg," said Yoshi, reaching for his mega-team's fifth cardinal

"Aye aye aye! How did you already find FIVE cardinals?" asked Deb. She was still looking for a fourth.

"We're just lucky like that," said Luigi.

"Francesca, Goombario… maybe we should try to look in dese item boxes," said Frankie, looking at a circle of six boxes. He broke three, Goombario broke two, and Francesca broke one. Out came… a mushroom, a green shell, a red shell, another green shell… and two cardinals.

"Yes!" said Francesca.

"I'm so glad we found them quickly. We just need one more," said Goombario.

"We can get back into de top four like we have been!" said Frankie, hugging Francesca, who cheered back.

"Come on, DP, stop looking at the happiness and please start looking for some cardinals," said PPAD.

"But Frankie and Francesca are two of my favorite TTYD characters! I mean… one of my favorite teams!" said DP.

"All of us FanFictioners failed this leg, epically," said PPAD.

"She means we all broke the fourth wall. A lot. But, since we're in the world, maybe it's more like breaking the fifth wall?" DP thought.

"Excuse me, prince," said PPAD. She sat down in the river, and was shocked as she started floating down it! She quickly exited the river, and searched the nearby shack, a giant Koopa Shell. "This place is cool!" she said, entering it. She looked up to see the fan inside was running. Attached to the cord that changed the setting was another little cardinal. "Hey, I got one!" she said. She grabbed it, and tripped on her way out, knocking over several objects on a desk. "OOF!" she said.

"Smooth move," said DP, laughing.

"Look at all this junk- maps, items, item boxes, a cardinal, pencils… a cardinal!" she said, grabbing the cardinal.

"Wow," said Goombaria.

"See, while you were making fun of me, I found two more cardinals!" PPAD said, mockingly. DonPianta rolled his eyes.

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo- 5 Cardinals**

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca- 5 Cardinals**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 4 Cardinals**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb- 4 Cardinals**

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn- 2 Cardinals**

"You know, it seems that we're all finding these cardinals in pairs," said Vivian.

"Wait a minute…" said Goombario. "If they're all in pairs, then there should be some back where we found them earlier!"

All teams rushed to places they'd previously found cardinals. Some got lucky.

"Look! I found another one!" said Francesca. "Now we can go get our clue!" She ran to the manager's shack, followed by her husband and Goombario.

"There's one in that entrance sign," said Vivian. Thoreau flew up to retrieve it.

"Hey! I found two more!" said Dot, excitedly.

"That's six!" said Deb. "Follow them!"

Other teams weren't so lucky. "No, nothing more," said Yoshi.

"There isn't one in the last device," said DP.

"Good, 'cause I did not wanna get stuck in here again," said PPAD.

"Well, let's just keep looking then," said Birdo.

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in First**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Here you go!" said Francesca, quickly handing the manager all six cardinals.

"Good job. I thought I made them harder to find," the manager replied.

"Don't worry, it took us about twenty minutes to find all of dem," said Frankie.

"Well, here's your clue," said the manager. "And here's yours as well," he said, handing Luigenius a clue.

"Okay, 'Make your way to Coconut Mall…'" Francesca read.

_Teams now have to travel three miles to Coconut Mall, a course best known for its adjacent stores and large parking lot. It is there that teams will potentially find their next pit stop._

"The last team to check in WILL be eliminated!" Luigenius finished.

"Well, we'd better hurry!" said Deb, and the six were off.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Sixth**

"ACK!" Tippi screamed as the kart violently halted.

"It's a good thing we went 75 mph, because it only took us fifteen or so minutes to get here!" said GLP, driving the kart onto the course.

"Well, here's gate number 5," said c11. "Gate number 1 is just past it." GLP strategically drove around gate 5 and through gate 1. She was rather sharp and screechy.

"I'm ready to go home," said Tippi.

"Gates number 2 and 3 are all the way down there!" said c11, pointing far down the course. Greenleafprince sped quickly to go after them.

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo- 5 Cardinals**

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy- 5 Cardinals**

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn- 4 Cardinals**

"This has taken long enough," said PPAD.

"Relax, we've only been here like twenty three minutes," said DP.

"Fine. I just hope we find more cardinals soon," said PPAD.

"Like this one?" asked Goombaria, holding one up.

"I'm so glad you're with us!" said PPAD. She led the way to the manager, who gave them the clue.

"Yes! It's pit stop time!" said DP, running out of the shack.

"Hey, I found one up there!" said Vivian, pointing to a point high in a tree. "Thoreau, come here!" she said. Thoreau didn't respond. "Thoreau, come here please?" Vivian tried. Thoreau didn't respond. "Thoreau, what the heck?" she asked, looking around to find him. He'd gone a ways away, and Marilyn was close by. "What's he doing?"

"Guh," said Marilyn. She had no idea.

"Thoreau! Get over here!" Vivian shouted. Thoreau looked back, and quickly floated over.

"Sorry I got so far away. What do you need?" he asked. Vivian pointed up to the tree. "Not a problem!" said Thoreau, flying up to reach it. He grabbed it and tossed it down to Vivian, who caught it.

"Just one more for us," she said.

"GUH! GUH!" Marilyn shouted. She'd flipped over a large boulder, and two cardinals had fallen out.

"That's great!" said Vivian.

"But we only need one," said Thoreau.

"We'd gladly take one," said Yoshi, arriving.

"Now to the manager!" said Luigi. The two teams ran to him.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Sixth**

"That was painful," said Tippi, as the clue dropped into the kart from gate 10.

"That was AWESOME!" said c11.

"I would LOVE to do it again," said GLP.

"Okay, we'd better hurry up and read this clue," said Tippi. She opened it. "Make your way to Coconut Mall. That must be where the pit stop is! The last team to check in WILL be eliminated."

"Well, it's a fifteen minute drive back, so let's go!" said GLP.

"Oh my god," said Tippi.

**Goombario, Frankie, and Francesca, Currently in First**

**Luigenius, Dot, and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Here it is! The Coconut Mall!" said Francesca, peering out the window, excitedly.

"Tanks for de ride," said Frankie, giving the taxi driver a few coins. The three quickly got out and ran inside the mall. "Now where is dat pit stop?"

"It'll be near Tumble and McBallyHoo," said Francesca.

"NO! Really?" said Frankie.

"Hard to believe, isn't it," Francesca said.

"I think I see them back in that empty store lot!" said Goombario, motioning to a lot at the end of the long hallway.

"Yeah! Dat's gotta be dem!" said Frankie. The three ran, arriving in the lot just as another team exited the taxi.

"I can just see the Piantas and Goombario right ahead," said Luigenius.

"Well, then, let's go!" said Dot. The three ran after the other mega-team

Tumble greeted the three at the mat. "Frankie and Francesca, and Goombario, you're team number one!"

**Frankie and Francesca: Leg Five: Team One- 11:46 AM**

"YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!" said Francesca, hugging Frankie.

"It was only a matter of time before we got first, but we totally did it!" said Francesca.

"Dere's such a relief in gettin' first, it was great to be dere wit Francesca at dat time," said Frankie.

"Because you're the first team to arrive, you've both won a trip to watch the Special Cup AND a three day, two night stay in the Circuit Towers Hotel!" said McBallyHoo.

"YAY!" said Francesca.

"Congrats, you guys," said Goombario.

"We knew when we split that we couldn't get first, but we also couldn't get last. I didn't want to split Frankie and Francesca, and I wanted to see Goombaria do better than me, but I guess I'm glad for the Piantas," said Goombario.

"Goombario, you know I can't give you your official time until Goombaria checks in," said Tumble. Goombario nodded, and then turned around. He heard the tapping of six feet along the tile floor of the mall.

"Excuse me," said Dot. The three stepped off the mat.

"Dot and Deb, with Luigenius, I see. You're team number two," said Tumble.

**Dot and Deb: Leg Five: Team Two- 11:47 AM**

"Yes!" said Dot.

"That's great!" said Deb.

"We can get first next leg," said Dot.

"Thanks to Luigenius," said Deb. Luigenius smiled, but stayed silent.

**Goombaria, DonPianta, and PrincessPeachAndDaisy**

Another team arrived, a few minutes later than the previous one. "It must be here somewhere," said PPAD.

"Look around. It's probably in a store or something," said DP.

"I think it might be back there! Those look like race flags!" Goombaria said, peering into a nearby store. "No… this is just a TV show memorabilia store."

"Well, let's just keep looking then," said DP. He scanned all that he could see, and then noticed an empty store at the end of the hall. "Hey, it's down here!" he said, beginning to run. PrincessPeachAndDaisy and Goombaria heard and went after him.

"Goombaria, since Goombario arrived at 11:46, you and him form team number three," said McBallyHoo.

**Goombario and Goombaria: Leg Five: Team Three- 11:49 AM**

"So, DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, you're team number four," McBallyHoo finished.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy: Leg Five: Team Four- 11:52 AM**

"That's good," said DP.

"No, that's great! We're still in the top half," said PPAD.

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn, Currently in Fifth**

**Luigi, Yoshi, and Birdo, Currently in Sixth**

"Thank you so much!" said Vivian to the driver. She handed him eight coins and was on her way into the mall. The other mega-team was right behind her.

"It's in here some place," said Yoshi.

"I see it! It's down there, in that empty lot!" said Luigi. He ran towards it. "I bet Luigenius is already there."

"Luigi," said Tumble. "Since Luigenius arrived at 11:47, you and he form team number five."

**Luigi and Luigenius: Leg Five: Team Five- 11:55 AM**

"Oh, cool," said Luigi.

"So, Yoshi and Birdo, you're team number six," said McBallyHoo.

**Yoshi and Birdo: Leg Five: Team Six- 12:03 AM**

"Oh, well, that's alright, I suppose," said Birdo.

"It's okay, we'll get fifth or better next leg," said Yoshi. "I promise."

The other mega-team stepped on. "Vivian and Marilyn, with Thoreau, you're the seventh team to arrive," said Tumble.

"Unfortunately, Thoreau broke one of the rules," said McBallyHoo.

"WHAT?" said Vivian and Thoreau.

"GUH?" said Marilyn, simultaneously.

"Thoreau went over 20 feet from his partners, therefore, your team has a thirty minute penalty," McBallyHoo said.

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn- 29:59 remaining**

"Thoreau! What is wrong with you?" asked Vivian.

"I'm sorry!" Thoreau replied, snapping.

"GUH!" said Marilyn. She clapped him.

"Ow!" said Thoreau.

"I thought, 'Oh no. I really hope the other three are farther behind," said Vivian.

**Tippi, Collete11, and Greenleafprince, Currently in Eighth (Last)**

"Come on, here's the mall!" said Tippi. He glanced at the kart's clock, seeing it to be a quarter past twelve. "Oh, man, we're in last for sure!" He floated out, shortly followed by collete11 and Greenleafprince.

"Where's the pit stop then?" asked c11.

"Let me see," said Tippi. She scanned the whole mall, and found an empty lot at the end of a hall. "Found it!" she said, and led the two to it.

"Collete11 and Greenleafprince, you're team number seven," said Tumble.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince: Leg Five: Team Seven- 12:17 AM**

"YEEEEEEEEEEES! YES! YES! YES!" the two screamed, hugging each other and jumping.

"WE'RE NOT LAST!" shouted GLP.

"OH MY GOD!" shouted c11.

"Okay…" said Tippi. "Why are Vivian, Marilyn, and Thoreau all waiting here?"

**Thoreau, Vivian, and Marilyn- 15:27 remaining**

"Thoreau broke the 20 feet rule," said Vivian.

"We have 15 minutes of penalty time left," said Thoreau. Tippi waited next to the mat as the timer slowly ran down.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER…

Vivian and Marilyn dejectedly floated onto the mat, and Thoreau followed suit.

"Vivian and Marilyn, you arrived at 12:03, but you got 30 minutes penalty, so your time is 12:33," said Tumble.

"The average time between Tippi's and Thoreau's arrival would have been 12:25, but, since Thoreau caused the problem, fifteen minutes of penalty time are added to his and Tippi's time," said McBallyHoo.

"So, Vivian and Marilyn… you're team number eight!" said Tumble.

**Vivian and Marilyn: Leg Five: Team Eight- 12:33 AM**

"YAY! We're still in it Marilyn!" cheered Vivian.

"Guh! Guh!" Marilyn said.

The two Pixls looked at each other, hurt.

"Tippi and Thoreau, that makes you the last team to arrive," said McBallyHoo.

**Tippi and Thoreau: Leg Five: Team Nine- 12:35 AM**

"I'm sorry to tell you you've both been eliminated from the race," he finished.

"Yeah…" said Tippi.

"I'm so sorry," Vivian said, quietly.

"I'm surprised to go. I mean, I thought that ever since our renewal last leg we'd do much better, but we don't have a choice. Basically, Thoreau got an hour of penalty time, so we were just behind the Sirens. If only collete11 and Greenleafprince chose to do Cardinal, Vivian and Marilyn could be sitting here," said Tippi.

"In the end, it comes down to the mistakes you make. Break one rule, and you're pretty much guaranteed to be out. It was stupid of me to get so far from Vivian and Marilyn, and I basically made Tippi lose. I'm just glad we got to live through five of the legs," said Thoreau.

"You guys were really close to coming back," said Tumble.

"Well, I guess we'd better head to Elimination Station," said Thoreau.

"Guh," said Marilyn.

"Thank you for joining us on the Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition!" said Tumble.

"Tune in next time to see who swims and who sinks in the next leg!" said McBallyHoo.

_Author's Note: Yeah, that Merge thing was really messed up, eh? Well, I said Tippi and Thoreau would be around for I while. I ended up lying._

_It was originally intended for DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy to take the Fast Forward, but I didn't want to miss any Mushroom Gorge action. I then planned for collete11 and Greenleafprince to take it, but I didn't want for my team to be in last. This was before I remembered the Merge. Plus, I couldn't think of a very good Fast Forward activity._

_I originally planned for Vivian and Marilyn to be eliminated, but I thought, hey, the averaging would mean that Tippi and Thoreau would only end up getting 15 minutes of penalty, so, I gave them an extra 15 to match what the Sirens got. Based on the times I sort of randomly chose, the Pixls were out. Had I picked a time a few minutes earlier for Tippi/collete11/Greenleafprince, the Sirens probably would have been gone._

_So that's my spiel for this leg. And I want to thank Child At Heart Forever- she gave me Coconut Mall as the last course for this leg after I'd used all I knew (except Bowser Castle and Banshee Boardwalk and all them there other character circuits, of course). So, for CAHF… __**DONPIANTA USED APPRECIATION! DON APPRECIATES WHAT CHILD AT HEART FOREVER DID!**_

_Oh, and for those of you who just skipped down to see the elimination, go back and read this chapter. It's, like, 18,000 words long. I put a lot of effort into it; it's my longest leg so far and it took me the longest time to type it, so read and review! Thanks to you!_


	7. Leg 6: This is Like, Epic Showtime Two

Note: I technically don't own anything in this story. Except for my persona, but it's named after something someone else owns, so…

Note 2: If you want to check out PrincessPeachAndDaisy or Luigenius just look them up as they are. If you're looking for collete11, search for NaraTemari011. If you're looking for Greenleafprince, go to Cybertronian-Star.

Note 3: In the first leg, the teams had to find Pennington to get their next clue. The real name of the character is Herringway… fail.

Note 4: I noticed mid-leg 5 that on GLP's profile, her true gender is female… and this whole time I thought she was a guy… I'm so sorry, GLP! So I edited the previous chapters.

Note 5: To all of you out there with a strong liking of any three teams, check out my page! I've got a poll. Leave a comment too; I'll give you virtual cake if you agree with me. DON'T JUST VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I'M THE AUTHOR!

Note 6: Last leg, I said that the times for the last four teams were 12 something AM. Due to my stupidity, I didn't remember that after 11:59 AM comes 12:00 PM _. Bear with me here folks.

The Amazing Race: Super Mario Super Edition

Leg Six: This is Like, Epic Showtime Two

* * *

_AN: I'm gonna try this kind of introduction. In your review, tell me if you prefer this type of introduction, or the type that is narrated by Tumble and McBallyHoo. Thanks!_

Last time, on the Amazing Race…

Teams took a trip to the racing center of the Mushroom World…

"_Okay, now we've gotta fly to Mario Circuit City," Goombaria read._

…where they had a time-deteriorating first task…

"_No!" Yoshi shouted. "That dang box gave me a red shell!"_

…after which they got to drive their own carts…

"_This is so cool!" squealed Dot as she slid into the passenger's seat._

…and drove to a breathtaking Roadblock…

_"Cool," said DP. He quickly read over the description. "VERY cool!" he said, and ran inside._

_"Wow! Look at this!" Luigenius said, walking a few yards into one of the mini-caves._

…which gave them a pleasant surprise.

_"LUIGI!" Luigenius shouted. "LUIGI, YOU ARE NOT GONNA BELIEVE WHAT I JUST GOT!"_

Teams were introduced to the Merge…

_"So dat means we'll have to wait for de next team den," said Frankie._

_"Great," said Francesca, sighing._

…where three teams split, each member to join one of the other six.

_"They wanna split up teams?" asked c11._

_"No way, collete is like a sister to me," said GLP._

_"Hell yeah!" said c11, hugging her 'sister'._

_"You two are actual sisters, and we don't want to split that either," said Tippi._

Mega-teams then had to do a Detour. Most teams chose 'Cardinal'.

_"Okay, we've gotta find five cardinals, right?" asked Dot._

_"We have to find six," said Luigenius._

_"Five, six, what's the difference?" Dot said._

Collete11 and Greenleafprince chose to do 'Ordinal', much to Tippi's chagrin.

_"I'm ready to go home," said Tippi._

Tippi wasn't the only one with troubles. DonPianta accidently changed the settings to a device inside a pipe, locking him, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, and Goombaria in.

_"Well how are we gonna get out?" shouted PPAD._

_"I DON'T KNOW!" DP shouted._

After the Detour, teams were sent to the leg's pit stop…

_"Okay, we'd better hurry up and read this clue," said Tippi. She opened it. "Make your way to Coconut Mall."_

…where married couple Frankie and Francesca got their first win…

_"Frankie and Francesca, and Goombario, you're team number one!"_

_"YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!" said Francesca._

…and split teams were re-united.

_"Goombaria, since Goombario arrived at 11:46, you and him form team number three," said McBallyHoo._

Vivian, Marilyn, and Thoreau suffered when the Pixl broke a rule…

_"Thoreau went over 20 feet from his partners, therefore, your team has a thirty minute penalty," McBallyHoo said._

_"Thoreau! What is wrong with you?" asked Vivian._

_"I'm sorry!" Thoreau replied, snapping._

…and Tippi and Thoreau suffered a more thorough punishment…

_"The average time between Tippi's and Thoreau's arrival would have been 12:25, but, since Thoreau caused the problem, fifteen minutes of penalty time are added to his and Tippi's time," said McBallyHoo._

…putting the Pixls in last place.

_"I'm sorry to tell you you've both been eliminated from the race," he finished._

_"Yeah…" said Tippi._

* * *

"Welcome back to… the Amazing Race!" said Tumble.

The Amazing Race theme song played.

"Frankie and Francesca, arriving at 11:46 AM, will depart at 11:46 PM," said McBallyHoo.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

"Alright, Francesca, we got dis," said Frankie, as Tumble handed him the clue. "'Make your way to de Dimensional Vortex…'"

_Teams now have to travel 7,364 miles to reach the city of Dimentia, the access point to all worlds of other dimensions. At Dimentia, they'll find the Dimensional Vortex, which will send them to the 2.5-dimensional town of Flipside. Once there, they'll have to travel to the top of Flipside Tower to get their next clue._

"Well, Francesca, it looks like we get to go between dimensions!" said Frankie.

"That sounds scary!" said Francesca.

"Nah, it'll be alright. Come on; let's get back to de airport."

"Dot and Deb will be leaving at 11:47 PM," said McBallyHoo. "They've declined to use their Crossover Rod."

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Okay, sis, we've gotta get to this Dimentia," said Deb.

"It sure ain't an amazing race without inter-dimensional travel!" said Dot.

"It figures. First we have to Merge, THEN we have to find birds, and now they want us to go to another dimension!" said Dot, throwing her hands into the air. "They do a bad job of acting like they don't make money off us!"

"Shut it, please, and let's get going," said Deb.

"Goombario and Goombario will depart at 11:49 PM," said Tumble.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

"Oh. My. Gosh!" said Goombaria. "WE GET TO TRAVEL BETWEEN DIMENSIONS!"

"WHAT? Isn't that inherently dangerous?" Goombario asked.

"Must not be, or we wouldn't be doing it," said Goombaria. She began to run out to the curb to look for a taxi.

"DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy will be leaving at 11:52 PM," said Tumble.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fourth**

"Alright, now we're goin' to Flipside," said DP.

"Are you serious? That's the two-and-a-half-dimensional city in Super Paper…" PPAD began, before DonPianta blocked her mouth.

"Does the term 'fourth wall' mean anything to you?" DP said, before shaking his head and heading to the mall's exit.

"Urgh!" said PPAD.

"No whining, P-Pad," said DP.

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE SECOND COMING OF JOHTO! IT'S NOT P PAD! IT'S A FREAKIN' P, A FREAKIN' P, A FREAKIN' A, AND A FREAKIN' D! WHAT FREAKING PART OF FREAKING P P A D DO YOU NOT FREAKING UNDERSTAND?" yelled PPAD.

"…"

"Luigi and Luigenius will be departing at 11:55 PM," said McBallyHoo.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth **

"Oh, man, we getta go to Flipside!" said Luigenius, wooting.

"Yeah, I've already been to Flipside, so, no big deal there for me," said Luigi.

"It seems as though Luigi has been everywhere we're going. Except Geldsburg, but who the hell ever heard of THAT?" said Luigenius.

"Well, regardless, we must catch a trolley and head to the airport. Maybe in the loo they've got a telly," said Luigenius, using every British term he knew.

Luigi rolled his eyes, exiting the mall (quickly) before his accentual partner.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in First**

"Okay…" said Francesca, entering the airport. She ran over to the first counter she could find. "Hi! Could please get us two tickets on a flight to Dimentia?" she asked the Goomba at Shroom Air. He nodded back, and typed into the computer before him. Out came two tickets, which he set on the counter.

"Um, what time are these for?" asked Francesca.

"…" said the Goomba.

"You alright?" asked Frankie. The Goomba just looked at him.

"I think he's mute," whispered Francesca. She looked at the tickets, seeing '5:00 A' printed on it. "Is this the first flight out of here?" she asked. The Goomba nodded. Francesca sighed, rolling her head over to glance at her equally discouraged partner.

"I guess we go wait," said Frankie. They found their terminal and went to take a nap in some nearby chairs.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Second**

"Something tells me we'll be here a while," said Dot.

"Hmm, could it be the sleeping couple on the chairs in the nearest terminal, perhaps?" Deb suggested.

"That seems to be a feasible conclusion," said Dot. Looking to her left instead of right as Francesca had, Dot found a nearby Shell Air stand. Behind the counter was a Koopa, talking on her cell phone.

"Omigosh, girl, I was like, 'Hey, D'Vonne! How you doin'?' You know, girl? Like, yah!" she said. Dot and Deb silently waited for her to finish. "Yo, girl, I got me some customers, so give me a sec', 'kay?" The Koopa put her cell phone down. "Welcome to Shell Air! How can I help you, girl?"

"Hi, can we please get two tickets on the first flight out to Dimentia?" asked Deb.

"Girl, the only flights we got is indirec', you know, they go through like other cities. But we got one at five o'clock, girl, it goes through like Shelldon, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, 'kay?" said the Koopa.

"Are there any other airlines with flights that get there faster?" asked Deb.

The Koopa shook her head, upset. "Girl." She frowned as she typed into her laptop, her false fingernails clacking on the keys. "Well, here you go. That POW Air stand oveh theyeh, they got a flight that leaves at 4:15, girl. It goes through a town call' Linelandi, but girl, it's a little far. I guess it get there first," she said.

"Um, okay, thanks," said Dot, quickly following Dot away from the Shell Air stand.

"Omigod, girl, you are not gonna believe what just happen."

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

The first stand the Goombas could see had a Koopa chatting away on a cell phone, so they decided to go to a stand a few counters down, to the first employeed counter they could get.

"Hi! What can I help you with?" a Toad woman said.

"Can we get on the fastest flight to Dimentia?" asked Goombario.

"Well, our flight is likely the fastest. It goes straight there… but it doesn't leave until 4:30 AM," the Toad said.

"Is that the earliest flight in the whole airport?" asked Goombaria.

"There's one that leaves 15 minutes sooner, but it's indirect," the Toad said.

Goombario looked at Goombaria and then the two shrugged. "I guess we'll take yours then," he said, thanking the Toad as she handed him the tickets.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Fourth**

"Look; that Koopa girl is hanging up! Go! Go! Go!" chanted PPAD, running to the Shell Air stand.

"Hey, girl! How can I help you taday?" the Koopa asked.

"…" said DP, unknown to the Koopa, as PrincessPeachAndDaisy was asking…

"When is the first flight out to Dimentia?"

"Girl, we got a flight that goes through Shelldon, it leaves at like five, girl. It's the fastest flight we got," the Koopa replied. DonPianta looked at PrincessPeachAndDaisy.

"Um, are there any flights that get there faster?" DP asked.

"Mm mm mm," the Koopa said, shaking her head in discontent. "Yeah, they got one at POW Air that go through Linelandi, but it's like far away. What's this…? Yeah, there's one I didn't see earlier. Warm Heart In'ernat'nal, they got on that's direc' at 4:30."

"Thanks for your help!" said PPAD. She and DonPianta ran to get the Warm Heart tickets.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Departing at 12:03 AM**

"Well, looks like I get to see what Peach was talking about in Flipside," said Yoshi.

"?" said Birdo.

"Peach told me about going to Flipside, and she said there was this small cook's shop, and the cook helped heal her. I'd like to see it," Yoshi explained.

"Peach is a good friend of mine, and I don't think it's such a bad thing that I want to meet the people who helped her out, just to thank them, you know?" said Yoshi.

"Well, we'd better not take too long," said Birdo. "We'll have to head right to Flipside Tower."

"Right, I know. Come on, we're pretty fast! It's not like we'll get last place or anything."

"Well, if we'd have done better prior to today, I'd believe you," said Birdo. "We need to do whatever we can to win this."

"As you're saying this, we're wasting time standing here."

"…"

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fifth**

"Look! There's a Shroom Air stand with a Goomba!" said Luigenius.

Luigi quickly approached the Goomba. "Hi, can we please get two tickets on your first flight to Dimentia?" The Goomba nodded. He printed two tickets, showing them that the flight was direct, leaving at five.

"Can you talk?" asked Luigenius. The Goomba gave him a _does it look like I can talk _look. "Oh. Well… thanks."

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Sixth**

"Alright, here's the airport," said Birdo. "It looks like there are only four people standing behind counters?"

"Well, it is almost a quarter past midnight," Yoshi replied. He walked to the nearest counter, with a Goomba behind.

"…" said the Goomba.

"…" said Yoshi and Birdo.

"…?" said the Goomba.

"Um, can we get tickets to Dimentia?" asked Birdo. The Goomba nodded, quickly preparing and handing her the tickets.

"It looks like we have to wait until five," said Yoshi. "At least it's direct. Thanks."

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Departing at 12:17 AM**

"Awesome! We get to go to that place from Super Paper Mario!" said c11.

"Spoiler alert much?" said GLP. "I haven't played Super Paper Mario yet, smart one!"

"I've been keeping track of all her stupid sayings in my journal. I call them 'Sayings of the Smart One known as collete11', or 'Smart Ones' for short. That's Smart One number 63," said GLP.

"Chillax, I'm not dumb JUST because I don't know what video games you have and haven't played."

"Yes, you are. You should know that about me; we're partners, remember?"

"…Whatever. Let's just get to the airport quickly."

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh**

"You'd think that it would take longer to get to the airport, considering all of the traffic in this HUGE city," said c11.

"It is midnight," said GLP. She then whispered, "Smart One 64."

"What was that?" said c11.

"Nothing! Nothing at all, that's what that was!" said GLP.

Shaking her head, collete11 walked over to the closest stand, a POW Air one. "I'm guessing we didn't go in the main entrance," she said.

"Does it matter? Just ask the nice young Shy Guy for some tickets," said GLP.

"Yeah, can we get two tickets to Dimentia?" asked c11.

"Your best bet is to get on OUR flight, see…" said the Shy Guy, looking up info in a biased manner. "Here you go! Two tickets for Linelandi, then to Dimentia! It leaves at 4:15, so you've got four hours to do whatever you want."

"Omigosh we should totally go back to Peach Beach and drive around those rings again!" said c11.

**Elimination Station**

"Something horrible just happened," said Tippi.

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh**

"Thanks so much for the tickets!" said GLP, accepting them. "No, I don't want to risk missing our flight."

**Elimination Station**

"Something wonderful just happened," said Tippi.

"…" said the others.

"What is wrong with you?" said Thoreau.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Departing at 12:33 AM**

"Okay, we have to go to Dimentia, which'll lead us to Flipside," Vivian said, scanning the Route Info.

"Guh guh guh guh guh?" Marilyn asked.

"I don't think so, but it'll be really weird!" said Vivian.

"Guh guh guh guh guh," said Marilyn.

"No, Marilyn," said Vivian. Shaking her head, she floated out of the mall.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Eighth (Last)**

"It seems that the only other people here are the other teams and four airline representatives," said Vivian. She looked at the four, seeing which looked best. Her eyes first laid on the Goomba of Shroom Air. He looked all depressed, so she decided he lacked self confidence. "No," she said. She then looked at the Shell Air Koopa. She was blabbing away on her cell phone, using a strangely devolved form of Ebonics. "A-definitely not." Then, she spotted a Shy Guy at the POW Air stand. His face… well, she couldn't see his face. So she was left to the Toadette standing at the Warm Hearts stand. "Now that sounds nice," she said, and entered the airport, completely ignoring the Koopa and the Goomba.

"Hi, how can I help you today?" the Toad asked.

"Hi, can we please get two tickets on the first flight out to Dimentia?" asked Vivian. The Toad smiled.

"If you want the first flight, POW Air's leaves at 4:15. But our flight arrives a bit sooner, and it leaves at 4:30. Would you like two of our tickets?" she said.

"Yes, that sounds good," said Vivian. The Toad handed her two freshly printed tickets. "Thank you!"

"Thank you for your service!" the Toad said, waving at the Sirens as they hunted down their flight.

_On the 4:15 POW Air flight through Linelandi are sisters Dot and Deb and friends collete11 and Greenleafprince._

_On the 4:30 Warm Hearts International direct flight are siblings Goombario and Goombaria, friends DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, and sisters Vivian and Marilyn._

_On the 5:00 Shroom Air direct flight are married couple Frankie and Francesca, friends Luigi and Luigenius, and dating couple Yoshi and Birdo._

**The 4:30 flight, arriving in Dimentia at 12:47 PM**

"I would have thought that this town would be a bit more… interesting," said Goombario.

"You're right. There's just like five houses," said DP.

"This one says 'SUBCON' on it," said PPAD. "I guess we have to find the one that says 'FLIPSIDE'."

"That one over there says it!" said Vivian, pointing to a house about a hundred yards away.

"I was blessed with amazing eyesight, I've got like 20x300 vision! Or is it 300x20 vision?" said Vivian.

The six ran to the house, ready to take a crazy trip into another dimension. "Are they sure this is safe?" asked Goombaria.

"It must be," said Goombario, "or else they couldn't have gone there and set up the clues."

"I guess that's true," said Goombaria.

"Who wants to enter the inter-dimensional house first?" asked PPAD. Nobody said anything.

"I guess that means you have to," said DP, smiling.

"I hate this game," PPAD said to herself.

"Go on," said DP.

PrincessPeachAndDaisy took a huge breath, and opened the door. "WHOA!" everyone shouted when they saw the inside of the house. All they could see was a huge, dark blue-violet portal. "Whoa," they said, afterwards.

"There was no way that I was going through THAT," said PPAD.

"Well, looks like a lot of fun for you!" said DP, smiling again.

"This is so not fair," said PPAD to herself. Screaming as she jumped into the portal, everything went silent. The other five looked into the portal, shocked.

"I still can't believe we're doing this," said DP. Shaking his head, he slowly walked into it, too. "Oh my g…" he began, until the others couldn't see him.

"Well, this looks totally safe," said Vivian. She floated in without hesitation.

"Guh guh guh?" Marilyn asked.

"Um, after you," said Goombario.

"Guh," Marilyn said, frowning. She slowly floated over, directly before the portal. Her breathing began to speed up. Nervous, she looked back at the Goombas, who blankly looked back at her. She silently walked into the portal.

"You first," said Goombaria.

"After you," said Goombario, simultaneously with his sister.

"…" they both said.

"Rock paper scissors?" Goombaria suggested. Goombario nodded.

"Rock, paper… scissors!" they shouted. They looked at each other.

"We don't have hands," said Goombario.

"…" they said.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Second**

The two teams appeared in a small, dark room. "I guess this is some house," said DP.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We have a clue to find!" said PPAD, epically pointing onward and upward. Nodding in synchronization, the others followed her out the door.

They appeared in a dark tunnel, the first level underground of Flipside. The one thing that they just now realized was…

"Holy crap, we're tiny!" said DP, looking up at the huge, nearby person walking into the huge, nearby coffee shop.

"You must be with the race," said a voice from behind them. Turning around, the four saw another being as small as them. It was a girl, a floating circle with several rectangles extending. She was purple, blue, and lime, and had dark, square eyes. "Hi, my name is Dottie," she said.

"Can we help you?" asked Vivian.

"No, I'm here to help you," Dottie replied. She circled quickly around the group, and slowly, all five grew to normal size.

"Whoa!" said DP and PPAD.

"That was amazing!" said Vivian.

"Guh guh guh!" said Marilyn.

"Well, good luck!" said Dottie. She shrunk back to tiny size and waited by the small house.

"I guess now we head onto Flipside Tower," said PPAD.

"Look! There's an elevator right there," said DP, pointing to a red arrow on the wall right past the coffee shop. They all ran inside, quickly rising to the main level of Flipside.

"Over there!" said PPAD, noting the huge, obvious, white tower.

"Did you find that all by yourself?" said DP. PrincessPeachAndDaisy shoved him in response.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

After a minute of silence, the Goombas decided to pass through the vortex together. They quickly exited the building, and saw the Pixl that matched them in size.

"Hey, how is it that we're all small when everything else is so big?" asked Goombaria. Dottie smiled and laughed, and began to fly around them, quickly speeding up. The next thing they knew, they were the same size as any other Flipside Goomba.

"Thanks!" said Goombario.

"Good luck," said Dottie, shrinking again.

"So the tower is around here somewhere?" said Goombaria.

"How can there be a tower here? This is like a sewer," said Goombario, scanning the landscape for anything that might signify a tower. "What's this?" he said, noticing a red upward arrow on a wall. He walked over to it, inspecting it.

"What's that?" said Goombaria, following him.

"I don't know," he said. He tapped it, and suddenly, a portion of the wall opened. "Whoa!" he said. "It's an elevator!"

"Well, then, get in! I wanna find this tower," said Goombaria.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Second**

The four quickly reached the tower, awed by its large height. "Wow," said PPAD.

"I think we should stop staring in awe and start entering the elevator," said DP.

"Yeah, I think you're right," said PPAD. They continued to look up at the elevator though.

"Come on, Marilyn, we should probably get going," said Vivian. She and her sister still looked up.

"No, I think we should really go," said DP. He grabbed PrincessPeachAndDaisy and pulled her towards the elevator. Vivian and Marilyn quickly followed.

"Look! There's the Goombas!" said Vivian, seeing them running towards the elevator.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

"Look at that, they just went up without us!" said Goombario.

"We should have just run right in the portal and not waited around so long," said Goombario.

"Well, we'll just wait for it to come back down!" Goombaria replied. She sat down in front of the tower, looking up. "Gosh, that's really tall!"

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in First**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Second**

"Look! There's the clue box!" said PPAD, pointing to the end of the top of the tower opposite the group. They ran towards it, pulling out a white envelope.

"What's it say?" asked DP. PrincessPeachAndDaisy tore it open, pulling out two folders.

"We've got a Detour," she said, looking at the orange one. "Sammer or Slammer?"

_A Detour is a choice between two tasks, one of which must be completed by each team. In Sammer, teams will enter the door to Sammer's Kingdom, where they must best ten opponents to receive their next clue. The travel is shorter, but weaker teams may be waiting a long time. In Slammer, teams will enter the door to the Downtown of Crag, where they will be given two authentic Crag hammers, which have a striking resemblance to the famous Pixl Cudge. They must make their way to the highest point in the Downtown of Crag, Craffer Point, at which there will be large blocks of granite. Teams will smash their way through them to receive a gem, which they'll trade in for their next clue. This option is physical as well and requires more distance, but doesn't need much strategy._

"Well?" said PPAD.

"Isn't it obvi? We pick Slammer!" said DP.

"Awesome!" said PPAD, following DonPianta into the Crag door.

-MidNote: I just want you to know, I'm changing my name format- the authors will always be abbreviated, except in the bold titles.-

"Guh guh guh?" asked Marilyn.

"Have you seen your muscles recently? Slammer, for sure!" said Vivian.

"Guh!" said Marilyn.

"Guh guh guh? Guh uh uh guh guh uh uh guh!" said Marilyn.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Third**

The Goombas eventually reached the top of the tower. "Okay, Detour: Sammer or Slammer?" Goombaria read.

"I think we should go with Sammer; I suck at hammers," said Goombario.

"Agreed," said Goombaria, entering the door.

"Yeah… wait, what?" said Goombario. He facepalmed.

**Sammer Kingdom (Sammer)**

"Wow," said Goombario.

"I didn't expect that the challenge was right beyond the door," Goombario said.

"This looks fun!" said Goombaria. She plowed right through the first Sammer Guy.

"…" said Goombario.

"Why do I even bother trying?" Goombario said.

The next three 'battles' continued the same way, with one of the two siblings KO'ing the opponent in a way so simple that it was almost painful to endure. "UGH!" said Goombaria. "This is too EASY!" She walked on, looking at Goombario, until she bumped into the fifth Sammer Guy. He was a lot taller than her.

"…" said Goombaria.

**Craffer Point (Slammer)**

"You'd think that this place would be quite a bit harder to reach," said PPAD.

"Agreed," said Don. Shrugging, he and PPAD lifted their hammers, and began to beat the crap out of one of the blocks.

"…" they said. They'd made almost no progress after one minute.

"This might be a while," said PPAD.

Soon after they noticed their failure, the two noticed something else. "Hey," said Don to Vivian and Marilyn as the sirens lifted their hammers at another block.

"Oh god," said Vivian, noting the true difficulty involved.

"Guh!" said Marilyn, laughing at her sister.

"Well I'm not exactly like you!" said Vivian.

"Guh guh guh guh guh!" said Marilyn.

"I don't like eggs!" Vivian replied.

"?" said Don and PPAD. Shrugging, returning to the arduous task.

**The 5:00 flight, arriving in Dimentia at 1:19 PM**

"We'd better hurry and somehow find how the heck we get to Flipside," said Luigenius (Luig).

"Maybe it's in that building that says 'Flipside' on it," Luigi replied. Luig facepalmed.

"Excuse me, princess," Luig said. Luigi rolled his eyes and ran into the building. Without stopping for a breather, he ran right into the portal. "Whoa whoa WHOA there!" Luig said, stopping short.

Soon, in ran Frankie and Francesca- with a little bit too much ambition. "Augh!" shouted Luig, as Frankie bumped him into the vortex. Frankie, clumsy, fell in during his attempt to stand.

"Frankie!" said Francesca, diving in after him.

"Wow," said Birdo, seeing this. "This is like, Epic Showtime Two." Yoshi looked at Birdo confused, before slowly backing into the vortex. Birdo grabbed a hold of his arm and went in with him.

"Here you go!" said Dottie, flying quickly around the six new arrivers. They quickly grew to the size of average Flipside residents, and Dottie shrank again.

"Thank you!" said Francesca.

"Where's dis Flipside Tower?" said Frankie.

"There's an elevator over there," Luig whispered to Luigi.

"I think we should spread out," said Luigi. "Frankie, Francesca, you look over there," he said, pointing in the direction of an arcade. "Birdo, Yoshi, you look over there," he continued, pointing to a wall far from the elevator, "and we'll go that way," he finished, nodding in the direction of the elevator.

"As soon as Luigi split us up to find out how to get to this tower, I got pretty suspicious," said Francesca.

Thinking that the others had begun to search, Luig and Luigi slipped aboard the elevator. One set of eyes was still watching them, though.

"I knew it," said Birdo.

"Over there," Birdo whispered to Yoshi. Yoshi nodded.

"Where did they go?" Yoshi said aloud.

"What?" Frankie said.

"They're gone," said Birdo.

"Dey've found de elevator!" said Frankie. The four duped players ran in the direction the two had gone.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"That probably got us a very short, yet hopefully significant lead," said Luig.

"I hope so. I know where the tower is, so just keep up," Luigi replied.

The elevator soon reached the main level of Flipside, and Luig didn't need Luigi's help to find the tower.

"That… is… HUGE!" Luig said.

"I know it is. Come on; let's get on before they have the chance!" Luigi said. The two ran over to the tower and boarded the elevator for the long trip up.

"Now we shouldn't have to worry," said Luig.

"Not too much."

**Sammer Kingdom (Sammer)**

"This… hurts… a lot…" said Goombaria, throwing herself weakly into the seventh opponent.

"Why?" said Goombaria.

"We don't have another option," said Goombario.

"Let's just skip it and take the penalty," said Goombaria.

"I was getting to the point where I really thought we couldn't do it anymore," Goombaria said.

"Excuse me, can you just let us through?" said Goombario.

"No! You must win!" said the Sammer Guy.

"We're not doing the Detour!" said Goombaria.

"Whatever," said the Sammer Guy. "Losers," he muttered.

"WHAT?" Goombaria yelled. Summoning her anger, she plowed through him. "O.O"

"Goombaria, we're so doing this."

**Craffer Point (Slammer)**

"We'd worked very hard to show that… we were hardly any closer to that gem," said Don.

"This is useless!" said PPAD.

"You mean _we're_ useless," said Don, pointing to the rock, which was still about 2/3 of its original size.

"We're not useless, this is just… tiring," said PPAD.

"Look at them!" said Don, gesturing to Vivian and Marilyn, who were just beating the frick out of their block.

"Let's just keep doing this," said PPAD.

"Fine," said Don, swinging his hammer again.

Marilyn whacked the block one last time, and it corroded, leaving a pile of gray and ash, centered by a small turquoise light. "Guh!" she said, picking it up.

"That's beautiful!" Vivian said, admiring the stone. "Let's go!"

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"Detour time, Luigi! Should we pick 'Sammer' or 'Slammer'?" Luig read.

"We could do both, I'm sure, but I think Sammer would take less time," said Luigi.

"Sounds good!" said Luig, running into the Sammer's Kingdom door.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fifth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Sixth**

The two teams were unhappily standing at the base of the tower, waiting for the elevator to come back down.

"I can't believe them," said Francesca.

"Sugar biscuit, dis is a race. Dey have to try to trick us because dey want to win. It's de whole point," said Frankie.

"Whatever," said Francesca.

"Francesca needs a big reality check," said Birdo.

After about a minute, the elevator doors slowly began to open. The four pile-drove their way in and the doors slowly shut again.

All four doo bee doo bee dooed on the way up. "This is literally the slowest elevator in the history of the universe," said Yoshi.

"It'll get there eventually," said Francesca. And then, it stopped.

"There's no way we're all the way up yet," said Birdo.

"We're not," said Yoshi, peering out the window. The elevator was frozen, halfway up the tower. "We're stuck."

"No!" said Francesca.

**Sammer Kingdom (Sammer)**

Luig and Luigi had bested the first six opponents, and were onto their seventh. "This isn't too bad," said Luigi, jumping on the opponent.

"Look! We're catching up to the Goombas!" said Luig, pointing to Goombario and Goombaria, who were at the last enemy.

"Yes! You did it, bro!" said Goombaria. The two approached Sammer, standing behind the fallen 10th Sammer Guy, and took their clue. "Thank you!"

"It says, 'Make your way to Merlee's Mansion…'"

_Teams now have to travel back to Flipside, from where they can enter another door to reach Merlee's Mansion, the oldest (and only) building in Gloam Valley. Once inside, they'll have to search through the basement to find Merlee, who'll give them their next clue._

"Okay, I think I know her from my travels with Mario!" said Goombario.

"You know _everyone_ from your travels with Mario," said Goombaria.

"Oh, right, I forgot," Goombario replied.

The two ran backwards, past all the random Sammer Guys. They totally ignored Luig and Luigi, acting as though they didn't see them.

"That's nice," said Luigi.

"I think Luigi is getting a bit worried about the race," said Luig.

"I'm not worried!" Luigi replied. "Well, we _were_ last once."

"Don't worry about it, just keep fightin'!" said Luig, punching the ninth Sammer Guy in the face.

**Craffer Point (Slammer)**

"Yes! We're done!" said Vivian, glomping her sister.

"Guh! Guh guh guh!" said Marilyn, returning the glomp.

"Congratulations," said the random Crag, handing the two the clue.

"Okay," said Vivian, after reading it over. "We have to find this mansion!"

"Guh guh guh!" said Marilyn, leading the way to Downtown of Crag. Don and PPAD were blown over by the flying past of the sirens.

"Ouch," said Don, standing up.

"Wow," said PPAD, walking the ¼ mile back to the block, with which they were almost done.

"I should have done more lifting before I came," said Don.

"You lift?" said PPAD.

"Yeah, I lift!" Don replied. PPAD rolled her eyes.

"Man, I'm tired," said Don.

"Aw, quit your whining!" said PPAD, grabbing and whacking the rock with both hammers. It shattered.

"…" said Don and PPAD. Don facepalmed.

"Come along now, little man," said PPAD, waving her hand to show Don the direction of travel.

"I _know _where you're going," said Don. He followed PPAD to the clue, and she made him read it. "To Merlee's Mansion."

"Come along, Don, I can't wait for you all day!" PPAD said. Don rolled his eyes.

**The 4:15 AM flight, arriving in Dimentia at 1:26 PM**

"We'd better hurry ourselves up if we wanna stay in this freakin' thing," said GLP.

"Yeah, let's find this Flipside place," said c11.

"It's obviously right there," said Dot, pointing to the white building reading 'FLIPSIDE'.

"Thanks, we couldn't figure that out on our own," said Deb. Dot rolled her eyes, and Deb laughed.

The two teams entered the house and, oblivious of the portal, ran right through to Flipside.

"Holy CRAP we're tiny!" said c11.

"IKR!" said GLP, leading c11 to facepalm.

"Hello! Welcome to Flipside!" said a Pixl, about the size of the heads of the racers. "I'm Dottie, and I'm here to help you out."

"Hi!" said Dot. Dottie spun quickly around the four, and they grew to the size of other Flipside citizens.

"Have a good day!" said Dottie.

"Bye!" said c11.

"Thank you!" said Deb.

The two teams found the elevator faster than the prior teams had, and they couldn't miss the tower.

"Hmm, I wonder how long the elevator'll be," said Dot. The two teams stopped before they reached the door.

"What the…" said GLP.

"No way," said c11. The elevator was totally still, halfway up the tower. Several maintenance vehicles blocked the tower.

"When did THIS happen?" said GLP to a random, nonworking worker.

"Like ten minutes ago," said the worker.

"This sucks!" said c11.

**Sammer Kingdom (Sammer)**

"Okay, we'll need some intense strategizing on this one," said Luig, pointing to the intensely obese Sammer Guy that stood between them and Sammer himself.

"How about this HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" yelled Luigi, plowing through the Sammer Guy- literally.

"O.O" said Luig and Sammer.

"That's not good," said Sammer. Staring at the remains of the Sammer Guy, Sammer began to well up with tears. He flipped out his cell. "Hey! Sammer Guy 56! Ten is down; you need to come replace him!" Luig and Luigi facepalmed, taking their clue.

"Merlee's Mansion," said Luig.

"I joined the party a little after that, so, I'm as confused as you," said Luigi. Luig facepalmed again.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in First**

"Hey! Look!" said Goombaria. Goombario, joining his sister in running through Gloam Valley, saw something that made him a bit nervous.

"It's the sirens!" he said.

"I know!" said Goombaria.

"I would've thought we were farther ahead…" said Goombaria.

"Well, we can't worry or stare! Just keep running!"

"Okay!"

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Second**

"Come on! If we hurry we'll beat them!" said Vivian.

"Guh! Guh! Guh!" said Marilyn, close behind her sister.

"Yes you can!"

"Guh…"

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

"I wonder how far ahead Marilyn and Vivian are," said Don, running pretty quickly through the Gloam Valley.

"They can't be too far!" said PPAD. The two epically jumped over a lake.

"…" they said, surprised at their skillz.

"Did the author just put a 'z' at-" PPAD began.

"SHUSH! Don't break it!" Don replied.

"Break wha-" PPAD began.

"NOTHING!" Don yelled, running ahead to hide his face, which showed how awkward the situation was.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"Isn't it weird?" asked Luig, looking around at the top of Flipside Tower.

"Isn't what weird?" Luigi asked.

"We haven't seen Frankie and Francesca _or _Yoshi and Birdo," Luig replied.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird," Luigi replied. Shrugging it off, the two entered the door to Gloam Valley.

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fifth/Sixth**

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth/Sixth**

"This is the most suckish thing ever!" said Birdo.

"Well, hopefully someone's flight is delayed or somethin'," said Frankie.

"We were the last flight to depart," said Yoshi.

"But… one of the flights was indirect," said Francesca. "Maybe we got here before them!"

"How do you know… aw, it doesn't matter. At least we're still in dis!" said Frankie.

"It felt good to know dat dere was at least two teams behind us," said Frankie.

"I'm just hoping this starts up again. NOW," said Birdo. Yoshi rolled his eyes.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh/Eighth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh/Eighth**

"SNOOORE!" said c11, faking sleep on the ground.

"HOOONK-SHOOO!" said GLP, faking sleep on c11's stomach. Dot facepalmed.

"At least they _look _like they're _trying_ to make progress," said Deb.

"Not really," said Dot, "all they're doing is being there and making noise and raising ladders that are _way _too short."

"Unfortunately… you're correct."

"I'm _always _correct."

Deb chuckled lightly.

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in First**

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in Second**

By now, Vivian and Marilyn were practically running side-by-side with the Goombas. "Hey!" said Vivian.

"Hey," said Goombario. He seemed to be slightly irked.

"We're pretty close," said Vivian, nodding to the nearby mansion.

"It's still like a quarter of a mile," said Goombario.

"Yeah, but it's not like it's another hour," said Vivian.

"I see," said Goombario.

"Um…" said Vivian.

"Well, good luck!" said Vivian, passing the Goombas.

"Guh guh guh," said Marilyn, apologetically, leaving the Goombas confused.

"What just happened?" said Goombaria. Goombario would've shrugged if they weren't running. If he had shoulders.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

"Look… the mansion… only a mile away!" said Don. PPAD facepalmed.

"As if… that's a short distance?" PPAD asked.

"It is… if you're ME!" said Don. PPAD facepalmed again.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"Hey!" said Luig. "I can see the mansion over the horizon!"

"That's not the _horizon! _If it was, it would be forever until we got there!" Luigi replied.

"Well, I can see it over the hill, okay?" said Luig.

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently in First**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently in Second**

The two teams finally stepped aboard the eloquent deck of the ornate mansion. Gawking at it up close, it took them a short time to remember the race and enter. To their complete surprise, they saw…

"TUMBLE?" all four said at once.

"Hello, teams. Currently, there's a technical fail beyond our control, which is halting four teams from advancing. I'm sorry to inform you that the race is being paused until the fail is solved," said Tumble. "Once the problem is cleared, you'll go on based on your time."

**Vivian and Marilyn, Currently Frozen- 2:18 PM**

**Goombario and Goombaria, Currently Frozen- 2:18 PM**

"Good luck," said Tumble. "You may rest here as you wish."

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently in Third**

The duo made it to the mansion about nine minutes later. The beauty of it didn't appeal to them, so they simply rushed in.

"WHOA!" they said, sliding and halting directly before Tumble.

"DonPianta, PrincessPeachAndDaisy, I'm sorry to inform you a technical fail has made it impossible for several teams to advance. You will be frozen here, and when the problem is solved, you'll be released at a staggered time, based on when other, previously-arriving teams made it here," Tumble explained.

**DonPianta and PrincessPeachAndDaisy, Currently Frozen- 2:29 PM**

"Wow," said Don.

"That sucks," said PPAD.

"Join the club," said Vivian.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

The two ran at about the fastest speed they'd ever run before. "Almost… there… good…" Luigi said.

"Ugh…" said Luig.

When they finally succeeded in arriving, they collapsed onto the deck.

"Let's just… wait…" said Luigi.

"Yeah…" said Luig.

**Dot and Deb, Currently in Seventh/Eighth**

**Collete11 and Greenleafprince, Currently in Seventh/Eighth**

The four yawned, lying on the ground. "We've been here for at least an hour," said Dot, looking at her sister's watch.

"Yeah, an hour and twenty nine minutes," said c11, looking at her watch.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Deb replied.

"Except sleep," said the random worker from before. The group facepalmed.

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently in Fourth**

"Come on, let's go," said Luig, standing up. Luigi slowly followed, entering the open door. What they saw inside woke them up- fully.

"?" they said.

"Luigi, Luigenius, unfortunately, there's been a technical fail out of our control…"

**Luigi and Luigenius, Currently Frozen- 3:05 PM**

"This sucks…" said Luig. Walking over to where three other teams were waiting, he lied down and returned to sleep.

**Frankie and Francesca, Currently in Fifth/Sixth**

**Yoshi and Birdo, Currently in Fifth/Sixth**

The four felt a bump, and stood up quickly. "It's moving up again!" said Francesca.

"YES!" said Birdo, hugging Yoshi. Frankie decided that this would be a good time to hug Francesca. He was correct, of course.

"Dis is great!" said Frankie. "Sort of."

Then, it wasn't great. The elevator halted after fifteen seconds.

"UGH!" all four said.

* * *

Author's Note: I hate to say it, but this technical fail will take too long to repair for the rest of the leg to be in this chapter But I will come back when they fix this elevator!


End file.
